Department for Transport

Taxis

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will place in the Library copies of all correspondence between his Department and (a) the Mayor of London and (b) Transport for London on (i) the taxi industry and (ii) Uber in the last 12 months.

Andrew Jones: It is not the Department’s policy to place copies of correspondence between it and third parties in the House Library.

Railways: North of England

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact on the North-West regional economy of the decision to delay the electrification of the TransPennine rail line.

Andrew Jones: The Secretary of State for Transport has asked Sir Peter Hendy, the incoming chairman of Network Rail, to develop proposals by the autumn for how the rail upgrade programme will be carried out.　 Once those proposals have been received, and agreed, the Department will consider whether any specific changes to the schedule of rail upgrades requires further assessment.

Railways: North of England

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects work to begin on the proposed High Speed 3 railway line; and what assessment he has made of the effect the delay in the electrification of the current TransPennine line on those proposals.

Mr Robert Goodwill: As part of building a Northern Powerhouse, the Government is working jointly with Transport for the North to develop options for improved east-west rail journeys in the north. We plan to produce prioritised options by Budget 2016 and expect the first tranche to be ready to inform the Government’s Rail Investment Strategy for the next rail investment period (Control Period 6, 2019 - 2024).Electrification of the NorthTrans-Pennine line east of Stalybridge is paused, not stopped, pending receipt of Sir Peter Hendy's re-planning proposals this autumn.  The re-plan will take into consideration the plans for the Northern Powerhouse to ensure we deliver the best solution overall.

Retail Trade

Ben Howlett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to support high street retailers that have incurred significant losses due to overrunning street works.

Andrew Jones: Compensation arrangements are already provided through The Gas (Street Works) (Compensation of Small Businesses) Regulations 1996 and the Water Industry Act 1991, which provide for compensation to be paid in certain circumstances in respect of loss or damage caused by gas-related and water-related street works. More widely, we are taking steps to reduce the disruption caused by street works, including the wider application of permit schemes and the piloting of lane rental. Further information about these initiatives may be found at:www.dft.gov.uk/topics/road-management/street-works

Air Pollution: Heathrow Airport

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the findings on page 27 of the Airports Commission: final report, published 1 July 2015, what assessment he has made of the effect on compliance (a) with EU air quality limits and (b) of air quality receptors with 2030 air quality limits of a decision to build a third runway at Heathrow.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Airports Commission undertook a considerable amount of work to assess the air quality implications of the three shortlisted expansion schemes. The impact on local air quality and how this affects compliance with EU air quality standards is something the Government will be considering carefully when deciding on additional runway capacity.

Large Goods Vehicles: Rural Areas

Sir William Cash: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons provisions in part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 on vehicle weight restrictions in rural areas have not yet been implemented; and when he expects those provisions to be implemented.

Andrew Jones: The Police already have the necessary power to take action where it is needed, and there are no plans at present to give local authorities greater powers to enforce weight limit-related or other moving traffic contraventions.

Railways: Overcrowding

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of train overcrowding on passenger safety.

Claire Perry: The Office of Rail and Road, in its role as the independent railway safety regulator, monitors and enforces compliance with health and safety legislation on Britain’s rail network.   It has concluded that the current control measures in place are proportionate to the risks posed by overcrowding.

Railways: Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when Ministers in his Department last met train operating companies to discuss flexible ticketing products.

Andrew Jones: Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations can be accessed on the GOV.UK website via the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-transparency-data#meetings.

Network Rail

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2015 to Question 4905, whether the forecasts provided by Network Rail in March 2015 for Control Period 5 delivery volumes and costs also included enhancements.

Claire Perry: Some early and developing assessments of the variance in enhancements costs were provided. It was recognised that these required firming up as many projects were still at an early stage in the project life cycle.

Railways: Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2015 to Questions 4931 and 4940, on railways: tickets, what flexible ticketing products (a) Govia Thameslink Railways and (b) c2c are obliged to introduce.

Andrew Jones: Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is obliged to introduce carnet-based season tickets based on ITSO certified smartmedia throughout the franchise on or before 30 September 2015. By the same date, GTR is also obliged to commence a demand management pilot that will reward season ticket holders travelling at quieter times of the day. The latter may include flexible season tickets, season tickets which give passengers a cash rebate for not travelling on peak services or other types of ticket.   c2c is obliged, by 31 May 2016, to introduce carnets sold in multiples of 10 journeys, based on ITSO certified smartmedia. By the same date, c2c is also obliged to make flexi-season products available, offering a financial reward which will be greater than the off-peak fare discount to passengers choosing not to travel during the morning and evening peak periods.   These obligations require the Secretary of State’s approval and are published in the register of rail passenger franchise agreements on the Department’s website.

Southern: Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2015 to Questions 4931 and 4940, on railways: tickets, if he will place in the Library a copy of the report that Southern Railway produced on its flexible ticketing trial.

Claire Perry: This information has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Railways: Infrastructure

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2015 to Question 4926, whether any of the meetings referred to in that Answer included meetings with representatives from (a) pension funds based outside the UK, (b) sovereign wealth funds and (c) private equity investors based outside the UK.

Claire Perry: I refer the Honourable Member to the previous Answer of 6 July 2015 to Question 4926.http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=4926

Railways: Electrification

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost-benefit ratios were for (a) Midland Main Line electrification and (b) TransPennine electrification on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Claire Perry: The cost-benefit ratio for Midland Mainline were calculated on the basis of delivering a package of benefits, including improved journey times and additional capacity and including track improvements.　 The cost benefit ratio was not calculated for Midland Main line electrification on its own.   For the North TransPennine electrification, we want to be more ambitious than simply putting the wires up as Network Rail had originally planned. Electrification alone on this route has been shown to be poor value for money, but when it is combined with track improvements to provide faster journeys and more frequent services, it has the potential to be high value for money.   Transpennine electrification remains central to our ambitious plans for the Northern Powerhouse, and it is required to deliver the capacity we want. It is vital that Network Rail does the job properly. The project has been temporarily paused while Network Rail works on revised plans to deliver the benefits required to ensure the scheme gets the best possible results.

South West Trains: Franchises

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to his Department has been of negotiating a Direct Award agreement with South West Trains.

Claire Perry: As of 17 June 2015 the Department has spent the following on external project advisers for work on the South Western Direct Award project:   Legal Advisers - £271,331.40 (ex. VAT) Technical Advisers　 - £395,454.12 (ex. VAT) Financial Advisers - £168, 090.00 (ex. VAT)   Further invoices are expected for project work completed in June 2015. It is not possible at this time to accurately estimate internal Departmental costs specifically associated with the Direct Award project.

Railways: Capital Investment

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the terms of reference for Sir Peter Hendy's report on the rail investment programme.

Claire Perry: The terms of reference for Sir Peter Hendy's report on the rail investment programme will be published in due course.

Tolls

Christian Matheson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on standardising (a) fast tag and (b) other electronic account metering systems for toll roads in England; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: It is for toll operators to decide the toll equipment (such as Fast Tag at the Mersey Tunnels) they deploy on their roads and crossings based on operational needs. We are, however, supportive of toll facilities which ensure compliance and can avoid unnecessary delay for motorists.   We also support interoperability for tolled crossings where this makes sense for road users, but this should not put additional costs on other road users who will not benefit from interoperability.

Network Rail

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the minutes of the Network Rail board meeting on 22 January 2015, on what date in January 2015 he held a meeting with Richard Parry-Jones at which his special advisor and his Department's Permanent Secretary were also present.

Claire Perry: Details of Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published and updated on the GOV.UK website. Information can be accessed via the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ministerial-transparency-data#meetings

London-Brighton Railway Line

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 69 of the Summer Budget 2015, HC264, if he will publish his Department's original feasibility study on Brighton Main Line 2.

Claire Perry: The original feasibility study was undertaken in 2008 and focussed on the re-instatement of the Lewes-Uckfield line – specifically the costs of an un-electrified, single track railway. The cost conclusions of the study represent the 2008 economic climate.   The 2008 study is attached and is publically available on the website of East Sussex County Council:https://eastsussexgovuk.blob.core.windows.net/media/2148/lewes_uckfield_network_rail_final_report.pdfIn addition, I have today placed a copy of the 2008 study in the libraries of both Houses. 



UIN 6208 - Lewes-Uckfield Rail Report
(PDF Document, 1.03 MB)

Lewes-Uckfield Railway Line

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to page 69 of Summer Budget 2015, HC264, if he will provide the timescale for the extended Lewes to Uckfield study looking at improving rail links between London and the South Coast.

Claire Perry: The Department anticipates securing external consultancy support for this work during the early autumn, with the findings of the study being provided to Ministers by the end of 2015.

South West Trains

Mrs Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on how many passenger injuries have been recorded by South West Trains on their mainline rail service from Waterloo in each of the last five years.

Claire Perry: The Department does not hold this information; this may be available from South West Trains.

South West Trains: Franchises

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what expenditure, by category of expenditure, was incurred by Directly Operated Railways in connection with the South West Trains Direct Award negotiations.

Claire Perry: No costs were incurred by Directly Operated Railways in connection with the South Western Direct Award negotiations.

Aviation

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost to the public purse was of the recent Airports Commission report into aircraft capacity.

Mr Robert Goodwill: On setting up the Commission in 2012, the Department set a budget of £20.35m to allow for building, staff and IT costs, expert consultancy, publishing, travel and hosting public consultation events over the four financial years 2012/13 to 2015/16.  Sir Howard Davies and his fellow commissioners have not been paid for their work.  The cost to date is around £12.7m. The exact cost will be known once the Commission Secretariat has been completely dissolved, following which we intend to publish the final figures.

Railways: Finance

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to abolish the network grant; and whether he plans that subsidy will be channelled through train-operating companies instead of Network Rail during the remaining years of Control Period 5.

Claire Perry: We intend to either remove or significantly reduce the Network Grant by re-routing Government support via franchised train operating companies, which will pay correspondingly higher track access charges to Network Rail for using the network. This change will not affect the overall level of support Government will be providing to rail.   This new approach will ensure that Network Rail focuses firmly on the needs of train operators, and through them, passengers.   Working with the Office of Rail and Road, we intend this change to take effect from the start of Control Period 6 (April 2019). We will be consulting with industry on the details.

Network Rail: Apprentices

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Network Rail plans to continue its apprenticeship programme in (a) 2015-16 and (b) 2016-17; and what the annual budget is for that programme.

Claire Perry: For 2015-16, Network Rail plans to take 210 apprentices starting from September. 205 of these are new recruits to Network Rail and 5 have been recruited as new entrants by its supply chain.　 The budget for these apprentice places, for a scheme that will be completed over 3 years, totals £8.3m.For 2016-17, Network Rail is making plans for an intake of 150 apprentices starting in September 2016; 100 of these will be new recruits to Network Rail and 50 places will be offered to its supply chain.　 The annual budget for this year is being finalised.

South West Trains: Franchises

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason he has decided not to proceed with a Direct Award to South West Trains.

Claire Perry: After discussions with Stagecoach South West Trains (SSWT), it became clear that we were unable to reach agreement for the anticipated Direct Award.　　 Therefore, in order to ensure that passenger benefits are delivered beyond 2017 in a way that achieves best value for taxpayers, the Secretary of State decided to proceed with the full competition.

East Midlands Trains: Franchises

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether Directly Operational Railways has undertaken any work in relation to the East Midlands franchise in the last 12 months.

Claire Perry: Consistent with all new franchises, the Department is required to prepare a contingency plan to maintain rail services in the event that negotiations fail. For the East Midlands Direct Award, we have engaged with Directly Operated Railways in this regard over the past 12 months.

Bus Services

Lucy Allan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to provide funding for local bus routes which provide an important service but are not commercially viable.

Andrew Jones: Local authorities in England spend over £315m a year supporting socially necessary bus services. In addition, the Department for Transport provides around £40m of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) funding directly to authorities to help deliver bus services. This central funding has been ring-fenced until 2016-17.

Home Office

Universities: Radicalism

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with universities on ensuring that lecturers do not encourage the development of extremist views.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 06 July 2015



The Home Office, in conjunction with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, has met with universities and Higher Education representative bodies, such as Universities UK, to discuss tackling extremism. Full public consultation was carried out in the course of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act in which the Higher Education sector and universities were directly consulted.

Police: Crimes of Violence

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many crimes of violence were recorded against serving police officers through health and safety self-reporting by police officers in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

Mike Penning: Table one contains statistics on the number of police officers assaulted whilst on duty during the financial years 2011/12 to 2013/14. These figures are based upon self-reported data held within police forces’ human resource or health and safety systems. These figures are not fully comparable because recording practices may vary between forces and over time. A police force area breakdown has been provided because some forces were unable to provide data for certain years.Table two contains police recorded crime statistics for the offence ‘Assault without injury on a constable’ for the calendar years 2012 to 2014. Totals for England and Wales have been provided as this dataset is complete.



Tables 1 + 2
(Excel SpreadSheet, 13.27 KB)

Health Services: Protest

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that police officers and others have the ability to prevent protesters harassing or intimidating women seeking advice on sexual health and abortion.

Mike Penning: The Home Office is aware of a number of recent protests outside some abortion clinics which we take extremely seriously. This country has a proud history of allowing free speech but the right to peaceful protest does not extend to harassment or threatening behaviour. The law currently provides protection against such acts. The police have a range of powers to deal with protests outside clinics. Section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, makes it an offence to display threatening, or abusive words or images that, within the sight of someone, is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986 allows the police to place conditions on the location, duration or numbers attending a public assembly. This can be applied where the police believe that the assembly may result in serious public disorder, serious damage to property, serious disruption to the life of the community, or that the purpose by the assembly organisers is to intimidate others to compel them not to do an act that they have a right to do.The police have dispersal powers (in public places) under sections 34 and 35 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, to remove or reduce the likelihood of members of the public being harassed, alarmed or distressed, or to prevent local crime or disorder.The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 includes criminal offences that protect individuals, who are conducting lawful activities, from harassment by protestors. The policing of protests and the use of powers are an operational matter for the police.

Illegal Immigrants: France

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many fines have been (a) imposed and (b) paid for the carrying of illegal migrants at ports of entry to the UK in the Pas de Calais region in each time period for which records are kept since January 2014.

James Brokenshire: The total penalties paid and received by the Home Office under the Civil Penalty scheme for the Nord Pas de Calais region are £4.2 million in 2013/14 and £6.6 million in 2014/15. Border Force issued penalties for those attempting to enter the UK via the Pas de Calais region for each month since January 2014 as follows:MonthNumber of Penalties Issued  January 2014179  February 2014157  March 2014184  April 2014221  May 2014263  June 2014282  July 2014369  August 2014335  September 2014309  October 2014333  November 2014271  December 2014254  January 2015316  February 2015186  March 2015182  April 2015198  May 2015268Two Codes of Practice govern what is expected of hauliers and drivers in preventing the carriage of clandestine entrants and the level of penalty that can be imposed in a given set of circumstances. If an effective system for preventing the carriage of clandestine entrants is in operation then no penalty would be imposed.

Home Office: Travel

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers in her Department are entitled to the use of a (i) car with a dedicated driver, (ii) car from the Government car pool and (iii) taxi ordered through a departmental account.

Karen Bradley: There is no entitlement for civil servants or special advisers to the use of (i) a car with a dedicated driver, (ii) a car from the government car pool (iii) a taxi ordered through a departmental account. However where there is business justification, pool vehicles can be driven by any employee of the Home Office holding the appropriate driving licence and approved by their line manager or local vehicle manager.Taxis may also be ordered for official business journeys in properly defined circumstances. This is subject to line manager approval in line with the Department’s travel and expenses policy.

Muslim Brotherhood

Ann Clwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether it is the Government's policy to regard the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation.

Mr John Hayes: The Muslim Brotherhood is not proscribed in the UK. Proscribing an organisation can only be considered when we believe it to be “concerned in terrorism” as defined by the Terrorism Act 2000.We do not routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription. A group is only proscribed if it is necessary and proportionate to do so.

Amnesty International: Surveillance

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the ruling by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal IPT/13/194/CH, that Amnesty International has been subjected to unlawful surveillance by the Government; and if she will make a statement.

Mr John Hayes: As the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) said in its judgment of 22 June 2015, any interception that occurred in this case was lawful, necessary and proportionate.While the IPT has found in favour of two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), it has made clear that neither of the NGOs suffered material detriment, damage or prejudice as a result of the breaches.Caution should be exercised against drawing conclusions from the IPT’s ruling about the target of any such interception that may have taken place. However I can neither confirm nor deny specifics relating to this or any other case.

Human Trafficking: Northern Ireland

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce people trafficking into Northern Ireland.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 09 July 2015



This Government is committed to tackling all forms of modern slavery, regardless of where or how it occurs. The Northern Ireland Executive is part of the UK’s Inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Modern Slavery, which leads the co-ordinated response to this terrible crime across the UK.The Border Policing Command of the National Crime Agency leads, supports and coordinates partners at the UK border in a multi-agency response to tackle international modern slavery crime before it reaches the UK.The Home Office’s Border Force has established a dedicated programme of activity to strengthen its capabilities to detect potential victims and traffickers and it runs regular operations on targeted flights. All border staff in Northern Ireland have received human trafficking training, to ensure they know how to spot trafficking.

Immigrants: English Language

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce a transition period for her Department's planned reduction in the number of English language test centres.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 08 July 2015



The new arrangements provide for immigration and nationality applicants to have their English language ability tested securely. The provision of test centres was planned to give appropriate coverage to meet anticipated customer demand, whilst allowing the Home Office to implement a robust audit regime. Managing demand across the network is a key requirement for the selected providers.Transitional arrangements are in place to enable those who took tests at previous test centres before April 6 2015 to continue to use those tests in support of immigration applications until November. Additionally, individuals intending to apply for settlement and citizenship after November 2015 have been given more than six months’ notice that they will be required to take a Secure English Language Test.

Naturalisation

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to reach a decision on the naturalisation application of the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth's constituent, Ms Noor Aldoumani.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 09 July 2015



I wrote to the hon. Member on this individual case on 8 July 2015.

Immigrants: English Language

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, where the test centres for English language tests are in the UK.

James Brokenshire: The test centres in the UK are as follows:1. Trinity Belfast SELT Centre - Forsyth House, Cromac Square, Belfast, County Antrim BT2 8LA2. Trinity Birmingham SELT Centre - Lonsdale House, 52 Blucher Street, Birmingham B1 1QU3. Trinity Cardiff SELT Centre - Temple Court, 13a Cathedral Road, Cardiff CF11 9HA4. Trinity Glasgow SELT Centre - The Centrum Building, 38 Queen Street, Glasgow G1 3DX5. Trinity Leeds SELT Centre - West One Building, 114 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 1BA6. Trinity London Hammersmith SELT Centre - 26-28 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 7BA7. Trinity London Holborn SELT Centre - 88 Kingsway, London WC2B 6AA8. Trinity Manchester SELT Centre - Peter House, Oxford Street, Manchester M1 5AN9. Trinity Newcastle SELT Centre - Milburn House, Dean Street, Newcastle NE1 1LE10. Trinity Peterborough SELT Centre - Stuart House, East Wing, St John’s Street, Peterborough PE1 5DD11. British Council, Edinburgh - Basil Paterson College, 65 Queen Street, Edinburgh EH2 4NA12. British Council, London West - Ealing Hammersmith & West London College, Hammersmith Campus, Gliddon Road, Barons Court, London W14 9BL13. British Council, London North - London Metropolitan University, 166-220 Holloway Road, London N7 8DB14. British Council, Chelmsford - Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford CM1 1SQ15. British Council, London Central - University of Ulster, St James's House, 10 Rosebery Avenue, Holborn, London EC1R 4TF16. British Council, Birmingham - Joseph Chamberlain 6th Form College, 1 Belgrave Road, Highgate, Birmingham B12 9FF17. British Council, Manchester - Connell 6th Form College, 301 Alan Turing Way, Manchester M11 3BS18. British Council, Cardiff - Cardiff and Vale College, Canal Parade, Cardiff CF10 5BF19. British Council, Portsmouth - Highbury College, Tutor Crescent, Portsmouth PO6 2SA20. British Council, Belfast - Belfast Metropolitan College, E3 Building, 398 Springfield Road, Belfast BT12 7DU

Entry Clearances: English Language

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many companies bid for the Secure English Language Test for applicants abroad; what the value was of that contract; and who was awarded that contract.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many companies bid for the Secure English Language Test for applicants within the UK; what the value was of that contract; and who was awarded that contract.

James Brokenshire: Three companies bid for the Secure English Language Test for applicants abroad. The contract was awarded to IELTS Consortium; the Consortium is made up of Cambridge English Language Assessment as Consortium Lead, with British Council and IDP IELTS Australia. The Concession Agreement is cost neutral as it was procured as a concession, rather than a contract, with test-takers paying the test provider directly. The Home Office has not provided funding to the service providers under this arrangement. An estimate of the market value is approximately £60 million per annum worldwide, based on expected volumes of upwards of 400,000 SELT tests at an average cost of £150 per test.

Immigrants: English Language

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which companies were contacted by her Department to bid for the Secure English Language Test; and when each such company was contacted.

James Brokenshire: The Home Department placed a Prior Information Notice to inform the market of the opportunity to express an interest and placed an OJEU Contract Notice to advertise the tender. It used TED (Tenders Electronic Daily - the online version of the 'Supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union', dedicated to European public procurement), rather than directly contacting companies to bid for the Secure English Language Test tender.

Pensions: Fraud

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has been monitoring the level of pensions-related scams and fraud since April 2015.

Mike Penning: The Home Office collects data on the number of crimes that involve pension fraud from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau on a quarterly basis.These data are published by the ONS as part of their ‘Crime in England and Wales’ quarterly crime statistics bulletins. The first quarter of data for 2015/16 will be published on 15th October 2015.

Radicalism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the work with local community faith groups under the Prevent programme.

Mr John Hayes: Working in partnership with local community groups is a key aspect of our programme to protect those who are at risk of radicalisation. Through the Prevent programme over 180 community based projects have been delivered since 2011 and in the last year we have supported over 70 community projects, which reached almost 40,000 people.

Police: Biometrics

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she (a) expects to receive and (b) plans to publish her Department's report on the review of the legal basis, regulation, governance and procedures for the use and retention of custody images.

Mike Penning: It is very important that the issues identified by the review are properly tested with operational decision makers, so as to appropriately balance the protection of personal data and privacy with the public protection benefits and the operational need. Due to the complexity of the issues raised in the evidence gathering stage and the number of important stakeholders, we now do not expect to complete the review and recommendation before September 2015. It will be published in due course.

Human Trafficking: Kent

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps Kent Police have taken to tackle people trafficking; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The Government is implementing the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to ensure the police have the powers they need to tackle modern slavery. We also work closely with the National Policing Lead for Modern Slavery on improving the police response to modern slavery including trafficking. It is a matter for individual forces what steps they take.

Human Trafficking

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps have been taken to tackle the re-trafficking of victims of trafficking in the UK.

Karen Bradley: The Government is committed to preventing further exploitation of vulnerable individuals who have already been victims of trafficking. Through The Salvation Army adult victim care contract in England and Wales, all potential victims who are referred into the National Referral Mechanism are provided with specialised support for a minimum period of 45 days, in excess of our international obligations. This includes work with victims to plan how they can move on safely to integrate into UK society or to return to their home country, and building resilience to avoid re-trafficking for child victims. We are currently trialling specialist child trafficking advocates who will provide dedicated support and guidance, including promoting the child’s safety and wellbeing, particularly in light of the risk of children going missing and being re-trafficked.Implementing the Modern Slavery Strategy and the Modern Slavery Act 2015 will enhance the law enforcement response to trafficking, and help protect individuals from re-trafficking by stopping those who are responsible from exploiting further victims.

Police: Bradford

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what changes there have been in the number of neighbourhood police officers in Bradford since May 2010.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold the requested data centrally. The Home Office collects and publishes statistics on the police workforce at police force area level, but not at a lower geographical level.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Sugar: Import Controls

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2015 to Question 4468, what steps he has taken to include the import duties currently imposed on cane sugar coming into Europe among the matters he intends to raise in the course of discussions to re-negotiate the UK's relationship with the EU.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the right hon. Member for East Ham to my answer of 1 July 2015. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has set out the four areas where we seek to address the concerns of the British public: sovereignty, fairness, competitiveness and immigration. Following the June European Council, technical discussions are taking place. The Council has agreed to revert to the issue at the December European Council.

EU Reform

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what powers the Government proposes to repatriate from the competence of the EU; and what EU Treaty provisions and legislative measures he proposes should be altered as part of such repatriation.

Mr David Lidington: The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), has set out the four areas where we seek to address the concerns of the British public: sovereignty, fairness, competitiveness and immigration. Following the June European Council, technical discussions are taking place. The Council has agreed to revert to the issue at the December European Council.

Andargachew Tsege

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assurances he has requested from the government of Ethiopia on the treatment of Andargachew Tsige while he is in custody; and what steps he plans to take to monitor whether his detention is lawful and humane.

James Berry: I remain deeply concerned by the continued detention of British national Andargachew Tsege in Ethiopia and about his welfare. The Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt Hon friend, the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Philip Hammond MP) last spoke to the Ethiopian Foreign Minister about this case on 30 June and made a public statement on 25 June. He made clear that Ethiopia’s failure to grant our repeated requests for access was unacceptable, and informed Dr Tedros that the lack of progress risked undermining the UK’s much valued relationship with Ethiopia. We will continue to press the Ethiopian government for regular consular access, for our concerns regarding Mr Andargachew’s welfare to be addressed, and for a clear and transparent legal process through which Mr Andargachew can challenge his detention. We have also asked the Ethiopian authorities to facilitate a visit by Mr Andargachew’s family.

South Sudan: Peace Negotiations

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what input the Government had in peace talks in South Sudan; and what plans the Government has to continue to try to influence those talks.

James Duddridge: In the last month, I have spoken to the Ethiopian, Ugandan and Kenyan foreign ministers, urging their governments to put pressure on both sides in the conflict in South Sudan to compromise and achieve a lasting peace. The UK has consistently provided support - political, technical and financial - for the peace talks led by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), together with Troika (US and Norway) partners. We welcome IGAD's recent initiative to reinvigorate the process by drawing in a range of additional regional and international partners, and have already held discussions with IGAD, the UN and key countries on this. We continue to urge IGAD to reconvene formal talks swiftly in light of the continued effects of the fighting, including the deteriorating humanitarian situation and further reports of serious human rights abuses.

Ascension Island: Marine Protected Areas

Richard Benyon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has received from the Ascension Island Council on the proposed creation of a marine protected area around Ascension.

James Duddridge: The Ascension Island Council wrote to Minister Duddridge at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in May about the proposed creation of a marine protected area around Ascension. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office are giving consideration to all options for marine management around Ascension Island. Any decision will be based on scientific justification, financial viability, effective enforcement and monitoring. The Government committed in its 2015 manifesto to, “designate a further protected area at Ascension Island, subject to the views of the local community.”

Sri Lanka: Official Visits

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what plans the Prime Minister has to meet the Chief Minister of Sri Lanka's Northern Province when he visits the UK.

Mr Hugo Swire: I met the Chief Minister of the Northern Provence during my visit to Sri Lanka in January 2015 and look forward to meeting him again later this month.

Pakistan: Terrorism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his officials have had with the Pakistan government on tackling terrorism in that region.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK and Pakistan have a shared interest in the battle against terrorism. We are committed to working together in a number of areas to combat the terrorist threat and the extremism that sustains it. UK assistance includes the appointment of the Prime Minister's Counter Terrorism (CT) Capability Envoy, who visits Pakistan regularly and has detailed discussions with the Pakistan Government on a range of CT issues, including Pakistan’s implementation of the National Action Plan against terrorism.Both my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department (Theresa May) and the National Security Adviser have had discussions with the Pakistan Minister of the Interior and the Chief of Army Staff during their recent visits to the UK.The UK-Pakistan Joint Working Group on CT is our framework for continuing dialogue. UK officials at the High Commission in Islamabad and from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Home Office Counter Terrorism Departments hold regular meetings with their counterparts in the Government of Pakistan to monitor progress and review areas of co-operation. UK assistance includes a long-term commitment to developing rule of law capacity in line with international law and human rights. Alongside this we have pledged further assistance, including UK strategic expertise, capacity development to improve detection and disruption of improvised explosive devices, support to developing effective approaches to countering violent extremism and strengthening aviation and infrastructure security.

Nabeel Rajab

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Bahrain government on the imprisonment of Nabeel Rajab.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK government is concerned by the decision to uphold Nabeel Rajab’s conviction. I raised this case at Ministerial level during my visit to Bahrain in June. We will continue to make clear to the Government of Bahrain that the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression must be respected.

Bahrain: Prisons

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will review the assistance that his Department provides to Bahrain for prison reform.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK is providing a wide range of technical assistance to the Government of Bahrain to support its reform programme. FCO officials evaluate training programmes on a regular basis to ensure that projects are on track for delivery and to assess their impact. Bahrain has made progress in its reforms, but more needs to be done to implement fully the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and UN Universal Period Review. The UK remains committed to supporting Bahrain in this process.

Japan: Whales

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to discourage Japan from resuming Antarctic whaling.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Government has made clear its opposition to Antarctic whaling. Most recently, the UK Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) reiterated the Government’s concerns in relation to Japan’s proposal to resume whaling in the Antarctic at a meeting with the Japanese Commissioner to the IWC in May 2015, and with officials from the Japanese Embassy in March 2015. The then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Natural Environment, Water and Rural Affairs, my hon Friend the Member for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle (Mr George Eustice) and Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Japan, have also both written previously to the Japanese government on this issue.

EU Nationals: Social Security Benefits

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what contingency plan he has made for if it is viable to secure agreement with his EU counterparts for the introduction of a four-year qualifying period for EU nationals to access in-work benefits in negotiating the UK's membership of the EU.

Mr David Lidington: As the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), said in his speech on 21 May 2015, the Government is concerned that under the current free movement rules, national welfare systems can provide an unintended additional incentive for large migratory movements. Consequently reforming welfare and particularly access to benefits for mobile EU nationals in order to reduce incentives for migration is one of our priorities for the renegotiation. The Prime Minister is working with his European partners to achieve this.

USA: Visas

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he last discussed delays in the processing of visas for UK citizens with the US Ambassador to the UK.

Mr Hugo Swire: I asked our officials to raise this question with the US Embassy and they were informed of global delays to the US visa system in June which impacted visa processing worldwide. I understand that this has now been resolved.

USA: Visas

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the number of UK citizens waiting for a decision on a visa application from the US administration.

Mr Hugo Swire: Information on the number of UK citizens waiting for a decision on a US visa application is held by the US authorities and I am therefore unable to make an estimate. We were aware of the delays in processing visa applications in June, but understand this has now been resolved.

Kashmir

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the UN and the governments of Pakistan, India and China on steps towards a peaceful resolution to the territorial dispute in Kashmir.

Mr Hugo Swire: The long standing position of the UK is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to act as a mediator. We follow developments in the region closely and we encourage both India and Pakistan to maintain positive dialogue, but the pace and scope of this is for them to determine. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed the situation in Kashmir when he met with the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in November 2014 and when he met with the Indian Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj in March 2015.

Burma: Human Rights

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports the Government has received on human rights violations by the Burmese Army in Kachin state, Burma; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: We receive regular media reports of continued heavy fighting in Kachin State. This includes reports of an escalation of violence in June, involving clashes in the vicinity of Hpakant. It is difficult to independently verify these reports owing to a lack of access to conflict affected areas, but a DFID team visited from 8-11 June to assess the effect of conflict on the civilian population, including on the over 100,000 displaced people currently living in camps. We remain very concerned that the continued conflict sustains an environment where human rights violations, including the sexual abuse of women caught up in the conflict, can and do occur, as was starkly demonstrated by the terrible case of the two teachers raped and killed in January this year in neighbouring Shan State. We have made clear to the government of Burma that any allegations of human rights abuses must be dealt with through a clear, independent and transparent investigative and prosecutorial process that meets international standards.

Rohingya: Refugees

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what meetings he has held with the ethnic Rohingya community in the UK regarding the Rhoingya refugee crisis.

Mr Hugo Swire: I have not met the Burmese Rohingya community in the UK since the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea humanitarian crisis emerged in May. However, our officials met a senior Burmese Muslim representative in London in June to discuss the crisis, and I called in the Burmese Ambassador to raise my concerns. Previously I have met many Burmese groups, including community and religious leaders from within the Rohingya community, both in the UK and during my visits to Burma.

Burma: Political Prisoners

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to secure the release of all political prisoners in Burma.

Mr Hugo Swire: We welcome the release of thousands of political prisoners under the current Burmese government. However, we remain concerned by the continued arrests, detentions and sentencing of political activists, with an estimated minimum of 150 remaining behind bars at the end of May 2015, and a further 450 awaiting trial following arrests throughout 2014 and early 2015. Officials from our Embassy in Rangoon meet regularly with civil society on this issue, and we continue to raise our concerns with the government of Burma at the highest levels. Most recently, the then Minister of State at the Home Office, Lynne Featherstone, raised this issue directly with Minister for the President’s Office, U Soe Thein, during her visit to Burma in January. We continue to lobby on individual cases. We also raise our concerns publicly in our Annual Report on Human Rights and in multilateral fora such as the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, where the UK co-sponsored a Resolution in March that called for the unconditional release of all political prisoners.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will seek the advice of the Venice Commission on the circumstances in which it would be appropriate for the resources available to (a) the Prime Minister and (b) other elements of the Government to be utilised during the purdah period in the forthcoming EU referendum.

Mr David Lidington: We have no plans to seek the advice of the Venice Commission. We will of course consider their recommendations very carefully when framing amendments to the European Union Referendum Bill, including the 2007 "Code of Good Practice on Referendums".

Bahrain

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how much his Department has allocated for assistance to Bahrain in 2015-16.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: £2.1 million has been allocated for assistance to Bahrain in 2015-16 to support the government of Bahrain in its reform programme, aimed at strengthening human rights and the rule of law.

Bahrain: Capital Punishment

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to take steps to encourage the introduction of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Bahrain; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Bahrain has had a de facto moratorium in place on the use of the death penalty since 2010, although we are concerned a number of individuals have received the death penalty sentence since then.The UK opposes the death penalty around the world because we believe it undermines human dignity, there is no evidence that it works as a deterrent and any error made in its application is irreversible.

British Nationals Abroad: Theft

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what advice his Department provides to British nationals who have cash stolen while on holiday abroad.

James Duddridge: The support that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office can offer British Nationals who are victims of crime abroad is described in our publication, Support for British Nationals Abroad: A Guide. This can be found on http://tinyurl.com/pr3buzf.In summary, the assistance that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is appropriate to the individual circumstances of each case. It may include for example:- Issuing replacement emergency travel documents. - Providing information about transferring funds. - Providing details of local lawyers and other services for victims of crime. - Contacting family or friends to assist with funds.We also provide travel advice for British Nationals. This is tailored to the situation in the country being visited. For example, in our travel advice for Greece we have advised British Nationals to make sure they take sufficient euros in cash to cover the duration of their stay as well as taking appropriate security precautions against theft.

British Nationals Abroad: Homicide

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what financial assistance his Department has provided to families of British nationals murdered abroad in (a) terrorist-related and (b) other incidents in each year since 2010.

James Duddridge: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) provides a range of support to bereaved families after the murder of a British National abroad, but does not normally offer financial assistance. We do however provide funding to specialist external partners, Lucie Blackman Trust and Victim Support, who can provide practical support to bereaved families. This help takes many forms, but can include securing financial help.

West Bank

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received from the British consul to Jerusalem on his visit to Susiya in the West Bank on 8 June 2015.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: On 8 June, the British Consul General to Jerusalem joined envoys from all 28 EU Member States visiting the Bedouin community at Susiya. The delegation’s visit was to emphasise their continuing support for the community and their opposition to demolitions. On an earlier visit of 10 May, the British Consul General to Jerusalem spoke to the leader of the community about the grave situation and need for the international community to help.

Bahrain

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of (a) the human rights situation and (b) prison conditions in Bahrain.

Mr Philip Hammond: We support the reforms underway in Bahrain and commend the steps taken by the Bahraini government to implement the recommendations set out in the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry and UN Universal Periodic Review. While progress has been made in a number of areas, we are clear that more needs to be done. The Bahraini Ministry of Interior Ombudsman, National Institute for Human Rights (NIHR) and Prisoners’ and Detainees’ Right Commission (PDRC) have released a number of reports detailing prison conditions in Bahrain and have made important recommendations to the Bahraini authorities. We encourage the Government of Bahrain to move swiftly to implement all their recommendations. We are also providing a range of technical assistance to support the government of Bahrain in its broader reform programme, aimed at strengthening human rights and the rule of law.

British Nationals Abroad: Homicide

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what compensation the Government has provided to families of British nationals murdered abroad in (a) terrorist-related and (b) non-terrorist-related incidents in each year since 2010.

James Duddridge: In cases of terrorism, the Statutory Victims of Terrorism Scheme covers both fatal and personal injury applications, and is administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The latter, reporting to the Ministry of Justice, has received 18 applications related to fatalities since its introduction, on 27 November 2012, and has paid £228,807 across eight successful claims, with seven claims still in process. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not provide compensation to the families of British nationals murdered abroad, but does provide advice when there is a relevant local compensation scheme in the country concerned.

Afghanistan: Pakistan

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on the (a) relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan and (b) effect of that relationship on counter-extremism efforts in the region.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK supports a strong bilateral relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The relationship has improved since the election of President Ghani, highlighted by the regular high-level visits between the two counties, as evidenced by the Heads of State visits in November 2014 and May 2015. Cooperation is vital to tackling the security threats in the region, and reducing the scope for terrorist groups to pose a threat to other nations, including the UK. We welcome Pakistan’s efforts to support an Afghan peace process to help bring an end to the long-running conflict in the country. We welcome the recent talks between the Government of Afghanistan and representatives of the Taliban. We will continue to support and encourage close cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan. We consider that these efforts can help to further reduce the space for extremist groups to operate in the region.

Israel: Palestinians

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the Middle East peace process of Israel's policy of removing structures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories built without permits.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We assess that demolition of Palestinian structures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories by Israel is harmful to the peace process. Demolitions cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians and in all but the most limited circumstances are contrary to international humanitarian law. The UK raises concerns about demolitions and displacement with the Government of Israel on a regular basis and at the highest levels.The Government continues to urge the Government of Israel to develop improved mechanisms for zoning, planning and permitting in Area C for the benefit of the Palestinian population, including by facilitating local Palestinian participation in such processes. This year we have allocated £900,000 for technical assistance to support Palestinian villages currently threatened with demolition action to meet the requirements of the Israeli planning system.

Radicalism

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the UK has taken to assist other countries in combatting extremism.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We provide technical assistance and support for capacity building and specialised strategic communications to countries affected by extremism, both bilaterally and through multilateral institutions. The UK has also promoted the identification and dissemination of best practice as co-chair of the Counter Violent Extremism Working Group of the Global Counter Terrorism Forum.

Gibraltar

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many illegal incursions there have been into Gibraltarian waters from Spain by (a) official Spanish vessels and (b) civilian and other vessels in 2015 to date.

Mr David Lidington: Between 1 January and 8 July, there were 234 unlawful incursions into British Gibraltar Territorial Waters (BGTW) by Spanish State vessels. Unlawful incursions are violations of international law by foreign State vessels. The Government does not record the numbers of non-State vessels entering BGTW. They would not, in any event, constitute unlawful incursions.

British Nationals Abroad: Homicide

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many British nationals were murdered abroad in each year since 2010; and in which countries those deaths took place.

James Duddridge: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Israel: Palestinians

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will discuss with the Israeli government plans to demolish the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya in the West Bank.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our Ambassador to Tel Aviv met senior officials from the Israeli National Security Council on 21 June and raised planning issues, including relating to the Bedouin in Area C of the West Bank. In May, our Embassy raised our serious concerns about the potential forcible transfer of the Bedouin in E1 and other parts of Area C and the Israeli Supreme Court’s ruling approving the demolition of the West Bank village Susiya with the Head of COGAT (Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories’), and senior officials from the Israeli National Security Council.

Northern Ireland Office

Terrorism: Republic of Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the government of the Republic of Ireland on the On the Runs scheme in that country; and what information she holds on how many letters of comfort were issued by that government.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: In the course of my duties I have regular contact with Ministers from the Irish Government.In relation to the On the Runs (OTRs) scheme, I set out the Government’s position fully in my statement to the House of Commons on 9 September 2014. I made it clear that the scheme was at an end, and that there was no basis for any reliance on letters received by so-called OTRs under the scheme. There is no amnesty, immunity or exemption from prosecution. If the Government in 2010 had been presented with a scheme that amounted to an amnesty, it would have stopped it.The Northern Ireland Office does not hold information on correspondence issued by the Irish Government. Whilst clearly a matter for the Irish Government, I understand that in response to recent media articles, the Irish Department for Justice and Equality have stated that “there is not, and never has been, in operation (in the Republic of Ireland) any form of amnesty for persons wanted for the commission of terrorist offences.”

Attorney General

Sentencing: Appeals

Karen Lumley: To ask the Attorney General, on how many occasions his Department has referred a criminal sentence to the Court of Appeal for review because it was felt to be unduly lenient in 2015.

Jeremy Wright: In the year to 31st December 2014, the Law Officers personally considered 469 cases and referred 128 offenders to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. Leave was granted by the Court in 95% of cases which included some of the most serious violent and sexual offences, including murder, rape and sexual assault.  The Attorney General’s Office publishes statistics for unduly lenient sentences at the end of the calendar year. This is to ensure that the figures are released in a consistent format and are accurate and quality assured. Unduly lenient sentences statistics for 2013 and 2014 are published on the Attorney General’s Office website - www.gov.uk/government/organisations/attorney-generals-office.

Social Workers: Negligence

Frank Field: To ask the Attorney General, what the Government's policy is on the prosecution of social workers for wilful neglect.

Jeremy Wright: In prosecuting cases of wilful neglect by social workers, prosecutors apply the two stages of the Full Code Test, as set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors. There must be sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and a prosecution must be in the public interest. The Director of Public Prosecutions will shortly issue further guidance for prosecutors on the ill treatment or wilful neglect offences created by sections 20 and 21 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. These provisions allow for the prosecution of, amongst others, social workers and social care providers providing formal adult social care who ill-treat or wilfully neglect individuals in their care. They add to criminal offences addressing the ill-treatment or wilful neglect of children, adults who lack capacity, and those subject to the Mental Health Act 1983.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Investment: Treaties

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of investor-state dispute settlements which (a) the Government and (b) another UK public body has been involved in resulted in a (i) tribunal ruling in favour of the Government or public body, (ii) ruling in favour of an investor, (iii) settlement resulting in a cash payment from the Government or another public body and (iv) settlement resulting in a change of policy, regulation or law in each year since 1997.

Anna Soubry: Neither the Government nor any other UK public body have been involved in any investor-state dispute settlement claims that have either had a tribunal ruling or reached any settlement since 1997 under our entire network of bilateral and multilateral investment protection agreements.

Investment: Treaties

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, which arbitration centres for investor-state dispute settlement the UK is subject to.

Anna Soubry: The UK is not subject to any centres for investor-state dispute settlement. However, we have included reference to a number of institutions related to international dispute resolution in our bilateral investment treaties: the Swedish Chamber of Commerce (SCC), the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a part of the World Bank, and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). The SCC and ICSID can provide a venue and procedural rules for arbitral proceedings and UNCITRAL just provides procedural rules.

Investment: Treaties

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what agreements which the UK is party to include an investor-state dispute settlement system as part of that agreement.

Anna Soubry: The UK is party to 94 Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty, all of which include an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. A list of the UK’s Bilateral Investment Treaties is available online (also including treaties terminated by South Africa and Bolivia) at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130104161243/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/publications-and-documents/treaties/treaty-texts/ippas-investment-promotion/.

Investment: Treaties

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, in how many investor-state dispute settlements (a) the Government and (b) other public bodies in the UK have been involved in each year since 1997.

Anna Soubry: The Government has been involved in one investor-state dispute settlement claim under our network of bilateral and multilateral investment protection treaties. We received notice of the claim in 2006 but the investor has not completed the procedural requirements for the claim to be heard by a tribunal. Other public bodies in the UK have never faced an investor-state dispute settlement claim.

Trade Unions

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the contribution of trades unions to the UK economy.

Nick Boles: Trade unions have a constructive role to play in maintaining positive industrial relations. The British Social Attitudes Survey and the Workplace Employment Relations Survey provide information on how the population, employers and union members view the services and activities of Trade Unions. The Office for National Statistics publishes estimates of the approximate Gross Added Value for Trade Union activities as well as the number of disputes (and days lost to industrial action).

Minimum Wage

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the Answer of 29 January 2015 to Question 221930, how many of the employers issued with a Notice of Underpayment of the National Minimum Wage have been named under the Department's revised national minimum wage naming and shaming scheme; how many employers have been issued with such a notice since 29 January 2015; and how many of those employers have been named under that scheme.

Nick Boles: Since 1 October 2013, 210 employers have been named under the National Minimum Wage naming scheme. HMRC has issued 333 Notices of Underpayment (NoUs) since 29 January 2015. Of these, 274 were for investigations that commenced on or after 1 October 2013 and are therefore eligible for naming under the new scheme. Since 29 January 2015, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has named 118 employers, of which 4 employers were issued an NoU after that date. The Department expects to name more employers shortly.

Hazardous Substances: EU Law

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the differences between regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures and corresponding US law; how he plans to resolve any such differences in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership; and what position the Government plans to take in negotiations on resolving such differences.

Anna Soubry: We understand that the US does not currently have a direct equivalent to the EU Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation. The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which covers hazards to people in the workplace, has adopted the United Nations Globally Harmonised System for classification and labelling of chemicals (GHS), which the CLP is modelled on. However, US Administrations that cover environment and consumer issues have not yet adopted the GHS. During the EU-US Free-Trade Agreement negotiations (TTIP), we will continue to support the EU’s objective to promote alignment in classification and labelling of chemicals in accordance with the GHS and will continue to press for an ambitious EU-US Free-Trade Agreement.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much and what proportion of the Enterprise Zone Fund each Local Enterprise Partnership has been allocated in each year of the Fund's operation.

Anna Soubry: Enterprise Zones do not receive an annual funding allocation. Firms moving onto Enterprise Zones receive business rates discounts. Increases in business rates payments to local authorities from the zone are retained locally and spent to support local economic growth initiatives.

Medicine: Research

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what comparative assessment he has made of Government support for medical research and development in the UK and other major economies.

Joseph Johnson: Every two years, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills commissions an international comparison of the UK research base. The most recent report, “International Comparative Performance of the UK Research Base – 2013”, assesses the performance of the UK compared with seven other research-intensive countries (Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US). Where data is available, it also makes comparisons with the EU27, OECD member countries’ groups, and three other fast growing nations (Brazil, Russia and India). The report showed that while the UK represents just 0.9% of the global population, it accounts for 3.2% of R&D expenditure, 4.1% of researchers, 6.4% of research articles, 9.5% of research article downloads and 15.9% of the world's most highly-cited articles. Some of the data is broken down by subject area, showing that UK research publications in the fields of health and medical sciences and clinical sciences increased their citation impact between 2008 and 2012, and are well above the world average.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much and what proportion of the total fund each Local Enterprise Partnership has been allocated from the Growing Places Fund in each year since the introduction of that scheme.

Anna Soubry: The £730 million Growing Places Fund (GPF) was distributed to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) in England as a one-off payment. The payments were made in February and March 2012 under a section 31 grant. Details of the proportion of the fund paid out to each LEP is available on the Department for Communities and Local Government website.

Local Enterprise Partnerships

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much and what proportion of the total fund each Local Enterprise Partnership will be allocated from the Local Growth Fund for the period 2015 to 2021.

Anna Soubry: Details about awards made to date are available on the GOV.UK website. Arrangements for future awards will be announced in due course.

Adult Education: Finance

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much of the Adult Skills Budget is spent in each local authority area.

Nick Boles: The Skills Funding Agency does not allocate funding to specific geographical areas. The Agency allocates funding to colleges and training providers, some of whom operate on very local geographic footprints, whilst others provide training and skills services to learners and employers across the country. College and training providers are required to work with Local Enterprise Partnerships and local stakeholders to ensure that what they deliver locally is responding to local needs.

Immigration Controls: France

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect on businesses of border delays at the Channel Tunnel on Channel ports.

Anna Soubry: Understanding the full cost to business would require a detailed analysis of their supply chains. This information can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Kirsten  Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on 17 March 2015, Official Report, column 254WH, what the expected anticipated publication date is for the report commissioned by the Financial Conduct Authority into the treatment by RBS of business customers in financial difficulty.

Anna Soubry: Section 166 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 gives the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the power to commission reports by “skilled persons” in order to obtain an independent view of any aspect of a firm’s activities. It has appointed Mazars and Promontory Financial Group to carry out a skilled person’s review of the treatment by RBS of business customers in financial difficulty. This review is ongoing. The FCA expects that the skilled person will be reporting review outcomes by the end of 2015 and intends to publish the outcomes of the review after the skilled person has reported.

Apprentices

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what discussions he has had with apprenticeship providers to ensure that people on apprenticeship schemes receive a full-time job afterwards.

Nick Boles: Apprenticeships are paid jobs with high quality training. We are committed to 3 million apprenticeship starts during the next 5 years and are working with a range of organisations, including employers and training providers, to secure more apprenticeship opportunities across all sectors and for all ages.   The Government’s 2014 survey of apprentices showed that around 90% of apprentices are employed on completion of training (including 2% who were self-employed). 71% are with the same employer.   Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeships-evaluation-learner-survey-2014

Minimum Wage: Young People

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the minimum wage for people aged under 18; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: The Low Pay Commission (LPC) is an independent body that advises the Government about the National Minimum Wage, including the rate for 16-17 year olds. The LPC recommended that from October 2015 the 16-17 year old rate would be £3.87 an (increase of 2.2%). The LPC’s recommendations follow consultation with businesses and workers and their representatives, together with extensive research and analysis. The LPC’s report can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-minimum-wage-low-pay-commission-report-2015. Having considered the LPC’s report, the Government accepted its recommendation and laid draft uprating regulations in Parliament on 23 June 2015.

Department for International Development

Developing Countries: Abortion

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much her Department has spent (a) in total on the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy programme, (b) for abortion services by the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy programme and (c) supporting locally-led changes to the regulatory and policy environments for abortion services as part of the Prevention of Maternal Deaths from Unwanted Pregnancy programme since the inception of that programme; what measures are in place to ensure value for money in the delivery of the programme; and what scrutiny is applied to organisations commissioned with the delivery of the international aspects of the programme.

Grant Shapps: Total spend to date on the Prevention of Maternal Death from Unwanted Pregnancy programme has been £59.7 million. The programme works in a comprehensive and integrated manner and spend is not disaggregated by service type.  The programme delivers value for money when compared with both international standards and its own output targets. The programme is subject to DFID’s approach for conducting due diligence of delivery partners. Further information on both value for money and programme oversight can be found on DFID’s development tracker at devtracker.dfid.gov.uk.

South Sudan: Offences against Children

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the UNICEF news note on children killed, abducted and raped in South Sudan attacks, dated 18 May 2015, if she will hold discussions with the government of South Sudan on the protection of children in that country from such attacks.

Grant Shapps: We have raised the issue of the protection of civilians, particularly children, both as part of our broader human rights engagement with the Government of South Sudan, as well as with the opposition, most recently on the 7th of July. Her Majesty’s Ambassador (HMA) to South Sudan, together with Heads of EU Missions in Juba, issued a statement on the 2nd July 2015 condemning the human rights atrocities in Unity State that were raised in the recent UNICEF and United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reports. The joint statement strongly condemned the horrific acts against civilians, including children, and urged all parties involved to take steps to end these atrocities as a matter of urgency. We continue to call for the Government to allow further investigations by granting unimpeded access to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). We will continue to press the Government of South Sudan to ensure the protection of its citizens and investigate these atrocities.

Yemen

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the World Health Organisation press release dated 26 June 2015 on UN CERF funds, what assessment she has made of the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK is deeply concerned about the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. According to the United Nations, 21 million Yemenis (80% of the population) are now in need of humanitarian assistance. Of those, 6 million are facing severe food shortages; over 9 million have lost access to water; and 1.2 million have been displaced. 70% of health facilities have stopped operating and two thirds of the population are now deprived of health services. The UN has confirmed outbreaks of dengue fever and reported rising numbers of measles, rubella and polio cases due to disruptions to planned immunisation programmes and cold-chain vaccine storage because of severe fuel shortages. The UK is the largest contributor globally to the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and welcomes the release of $25 million to assist those affected by the crisis in Yemen, and the announcement that $8 million has been committed to the WHO to provide life-saving medicines for non-communicable diseases. The UK has so far committed £55 million to the humanitarian response in Yemen for 2015.

Greece: EU Aid

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts on the provision of humanitarian assistance to Greece.

Mr Desmond Swayne: We have not received a request from the Greek government for assistance. If we do, we will assess this on the basis of need. Greece is not eligible to receive Official Development Assistance as it has a GNI per capita of around $22,000. The maximum GNI per capita for a country to be ODA eligible is around $13,000. In the short to medium term it is therefore unlikely we could provide support through the aid budget.

Israel: Palestinians

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to support the residents of the village of Susiya in the West Bank in the event of the village being demolished.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK is funding the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to provide free legal support to Palestinian communities threatened with forced eviction, demolition and displacement and is also providing £1.1 million of technical assistance to support Palestinian villages at risk of demolition action to meet the requirements of the Israeli planning system. The UK will continue to raise concerns about demolitions and displacement with the Government of Israel on a regular basis and at the highest levels.

Developing Countries: Taxation

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with her Ministerial colleagues in HM Treasury on tax reform, helping developing countries to collect tax from multinational companies and the OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting process.

Justine Greening: DFID and HM Treasury ministers and officials meet regularly to discuss issues of common interest, including tax and development. We have worked closely to progress the G20 agenda on tax and development to ensure that developing countries can participate in the G20/OECD Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) process and are able to implement its outputs. At the Autumn Statement the Chancellor announced increased resources for the HMRC capacity building unit that I established in 2013, to recruit a dedicated team of experts to tackle tax avoidance and evasion in developing countries.

International Conference on Financing for Development

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her priorities are for the forthcoming UN Financing for Development conference.

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what her priorities are for reforming taxation and private investment flows at the forthcoming UN Financing for Development conference.

Justine Greening: As a country that has met its commitment to spend 0.7% of GNI on international development, the UK’s priority for the UN Financing for Development Conference is to provide a solid foundation for the post-2015 summit in September and the climate meeting in December. The UK is seeking an innovative approach to development finance that helps developing countries mobilise their own tax revenues and catalyses private financial flows, building on the progress made at the 2013 UK-led G8 summit in the areas of trade, tax and transparency.

Israel: Palestinians

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent support her Department has provided to the residents of Susiya in the West Bank.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK is funding the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to provide free legal support to Palestinian communities threatened with forced eviction, demolition and displacement and is also providing £1.1 million of technical assistance to support Palestinian villages at risk of demolition action to meet the requirements of the Israeli planning system. The UK raises concerns about demolitions and displacement with the Government of Israel on a regular basis and at the highest levels. On 8 June, envoys from all 28 European Union Member States including the British Consul General to Jerusalem visited the Bedouin community at Susiya. The delegation’s visit was to emphasise their continuing support for the community and their opposition to demolitions in general.

Israel: Palestinians

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions she has had with donor partners about contingency planning for providing humanitarian assistance to the residents of Susiya in the West Bank in the event that that village is removed.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK provides assistance to communities in Area C through technical assistance and funding for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to provide free legal support to Palestinian communities threatened with forced eviction, demolition and displacement. We work closely with donor partners both through the EU and humanitarian agencies to prevent the forcible transfer of any Palestinian communities from Area C of the West Bank and to uphold International Humanitarian Law.

Department for Education

Adoption

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding she has made available to support child adoption; and how much of that funding was allocated in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) West Yorkshire, (d) Leeds and (e) Leeds North West constituency in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson: Local authorities in England fund children’s services, including the adoption process, out of their local government finance settlement from the Department for Communities and Local Government. The Department for Education gave local authorities in England an additional £200 million over 2013-15 to support adoption, including improving adopter recruitment. Allocations of the Adoption Reform Grant (ARG) for local authorities in West Yorkshire are as follows: LOCAL AUTHORITYARG 2013-2014 ARG 2014-15Bradford£1,973,269£626,815Calderdale£641,539£191,581Kirklees£1,422,328£412,544Leeds£2,633,222£649,936Wakefield£914,746£273,078Total£7,585,104£2,153,954   The department has also made available £17 million over 2013-16 to help Voluntary Adoption Agencies recruit and approve more adopters, including those who can meet the needs of harder to place children, and address sector-wide adopter recruitment issues. In 2015-16, £4.5 million will be given to local authorities to combine their adoption functions by creating regional adoption agencies which will provide access to a wider pool of adopters. In 2015-17, £30 million will be given to local authorities to cover the cost of commissioning other agencies to find adoptive parents for hard to place children. Information is only available on funding in England.

Adoption

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many child adopters have been recruited by adoption agencies in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) West Yorkshire, (d) Leeds and (e) Leeds North West constituency in each of the last five years.

Edward Timpson: Figures relating to adoptions and adopters in England are published in the Adoption Leadership Board (ALB) agency level data, which can be found online is available online at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-leadership-board-quarterly-data-reports The ‘Adopters LA’ and ‘Adopters VAA’ tables provide the number of adopters approved through local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies in quarters 1 to 3 2014-15. Prior to 2014-15, data on the number of adopters approved in England were published in the Ofsted adoption annual dataset at the following links: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/adoption-agencies-data-in-england-1-april-2013-to-31-march-2014 www.gov.uk/government/statistics/adoption-agencies-in-england-1-april-2012-to-31-march-2013 Figures for local authorities and voluntary adoption agencies can be found in Table B2 (Question B2.6) for 2013-14, and ‘Section B’ (Question B2.5) for 2012-13. Figures are not available prior to 2012-13.

Pupil Premium

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will hold discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on extending the pupil premium to young people aged between 16 and 19 in further education who are (a) looked after children, (b) pupils who have left care, (c) pupils who have been eligible for the pupil premium at any point in the previous six years and (d) other pupils who were eligible for pupil premium whilst in secondary education; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: There are no plans to extend the Pupil Premium to young people aged 16 to 19 who are in further education. All decisions on school and post-16 funding beyond the financial year 2015-16 will be made as part of the forthcoming spending review.   The Government understands the importance of supporting disadvantaged young people over the age of 16 who are in education. As with core funding for schools, there are elements within the national funding formula for 16-19 year olds that provide extra funding for disadvantaged students. Post-16 students living in the most deprived areas of the country attracted over £210 million of additional funding within the 16-19 funding formula in the academic year 2015/16.   In addition, students who struggled with maths and English at GCSE attracted over £350 million of additional funding within the formula. Schools and colleges decide how they spend this funding to deliver the support most needed by disadvantaged 16-19 year-old students.  Young people aged 16 to19 who are studying in school or college and are also in local authority care or have recently left care are entitled to the 16-19 Student Bursary, which is worth up to £1,200 yearly.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to maintain the current National Funding Rate per pupil for full-time students aged 16 to 17 and students aged 18 and over with high needs after 2015-16; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Decisions about the level of funding for 16-18 year olds, including the national funding rate, in the academic year 2016/17 and beyond will be subject to the outcome of the next spending review, which will set the budget for education and other public spending for the coming years.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support primary school pupils from the poorest families; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We are determined to ensure that every child, regardless of background, is given an education which allows them to fulfil their potential. As part of a Conservative Party manifesto commitment from the 2010 election we invested an extra £6.25 billion in schools through the pupil premium from 2011-12 to 2014-15 to help raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, including a higher rate of per-pupil funding for primary-aged pupils since April 2014. The latest key stage 2 results are positive: at age 11 disadvantaged pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics increased by five percentage points to 67% between 2012 and 2014, and the gap with their better-off peers narrowed. Worth £2.5bn this year, this Government is committed to providing the pupil premium so schools receive additional money for their most disadvantaged pupils. Decisions on school funding beyond the financial year 2015-16 will be made as part of the forthcoming spending review.

Pupil Premium

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in what way the eligibility criteria for the pupil premium take account of the level and security of income of parents on (a) zero-hour contracts and (b) temporary contracts.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The main eligibility criterion for the pupil premium is whether a pupil aged 4-16 has been registered for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years. FSM eligibility captures both non-working families and families working for less than 16 hours per week, and this is based on a parent being in receipt of particular benefits, such as: income-based Jobseekers Allowance; income-related Employment and Support Allowance; Child Tax Credit, provided they have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190 and are not also entitled to Working Tax Credit; and Working Tax Credit run-on, paid for four weeks after anyone stops qualifying for Working Tax Credit.

Kids Company

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funds her Department paid to Kids Company in each of the last 10 years.

Edward Timpson: The information requested is contained in the following table:   Funding provided to Kids Company by DfE (and predecessor bodies). 2005-2008£3.4m (total)Invest to Save programme.2008-2009£4.7mYouth Sector Development Fund2009-2010£4.2mYouth Sector Development Fund2010-2011£4.6mYouth Sector Development Fund2011-2012£4.785mVCS transition grants programme2012-2013£4.785mVCS transition grants programme2013-2014£4.0mVCS National Prospectus programme

Kids Company

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish all correspondence between her Department and Camila Batmanghelidjh on Kids Company in the last five years.

Edward Timpson: Commercially sensitive information and confidential discussions are not published by the Department for Education as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of negotiations.

Kids Company

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the terms of reference were of each secondment of officials from her Department to Kids Company since 2011; where each such official was based; and what departmental resources were involved with each such secondment.

Edward Timpson: One person has been seconded to Kids Company from the Department for Education since 2011. The secondee was based at the Head Office of Kids Company at Blackfriars Road, London, SE1, for a period of 13 months. The costs of the secondment were met in full by the department.   The terms of reference were set out in the advertisement for the secondment and we have placed a copy of this in the House Library.

Teachers: Pay

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans her Department has to review the pay awards made to teaching staff; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Arrangements for teachers’ pay are based on recommendations from the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), the independent body that advises on teachers’ pay and conditions. The reforms introduced in the last Parliament have given greater autonomy to schools to decide how to reward their staff and how quickly pay progresses. The most successful teachers are now able to progress faster than before. Following consultations with the statutory consultees, the Secretary of State confirmed the government’s acceptance of the STRB’s recommendations on 6 July 2015. The department has no plans to review this decision.

Education: Mental Health Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Government has made of the adequacy of mental health provision made available through the education system.

Mr Sam Gyimah: We recognise that schools have a vital role to play in helping to promote good mental health for all their pupils as well as providing early support where mental health problems have been identified. It is important that schools can develop approaches to supporting pupils which suit their particular circumstances.   While we do not collect detailed central information on this provision we have produced a number of pieces of guidance to support practice in schools. These include advice on mental health and behaviour to help schools support young people with mental health needs. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mental-health-and-behaviour-in-schools--2 We have also published a blueprint for school counselling services which provides schools with practical, evidence-based advice informed by schools and counselling experts on how to deliver high quality school based counselling. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/416326/Counselling_in_schools_-240315.pdf We funded the Personal Social Health and Economic Education Association to produce guidance to improve teaching about mental health in PSHE, which will be supplemented by detailed lesson plans for Key Stages 1-4. Teachers are not mental health professionals and it is important that students can get swift access to specialist mental health support where needed. An additional £1.25bn is available for mental health services for children, young people and new mothers over the next five years, to ensure timely access to appropriate specialist support. To inform future practice, the Department for Education will be contributing £1.5 million in 2015-16 to a joint pilot with NHS England, which aims to improve knowledge of mental health issues and interventions, and facilitate better joint working between schools and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Literacy: Cumbria

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) childhood and (b) adult literacy rate was in (i) Copeland constituency and (ii) Cumbria in each of the last 10 years.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not hold the requested information requested as we do not calculate childhood and adult literacy rates.

Parkfield School

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2015 to Question 5049, how the cost of Parkfield School occupying its current premises at Dorset House for an additional year will be accommodated so that there is no resulting cost to the public purse.

Edward Timpson: We had always intended that Parkfield School would operate from temporary accommodation from September 2015 and had allowed sufficient budget for this. Following the discovery of bats on the school’s permanent site, the budget allocated to putting temporary classrooms on the permanent site will now be used to cover the cost of the school’s continued occupation of Dorset House.

Ministry of Justice

Electronic Tagging

Mrs Flick Drummond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress has been made on electronic monitoring.

Andrew Selous: This Government is committed to developing a new generation of electronic monitoring tags, so that we can more effectively monitor the location of offenders. But there have been significant problems with this programme. We have not developed the infrastructure for these new electronic monitoring tags to the timetable originally set out nor yet at the level of effectiveness required. Integrating legacy technology on the new system has caused particular delays. We are now in the the process of testing the new tags. But the new fully integrated service will not be ready for another 12 months at the earliest. We continue to use existing tags for a variety of offenders.

Human Rights

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, on which occasions the Supreme Court has declared an incompatibility between domestic legislation and the European Convention on Human Rights under section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998 since that Court's inception; and what the Government's response was in each such case.

Dominic Raab: Since its inception, the Supreme Court has confirmed two declarations of incompatibility under section 4 of the Human Rights Act 1998, both of which had been made previously by the Court of Appeal. These were in the cases of R (F and Thompson) v SSHD (2010) UKSC 17 and T & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2014] UKSC 35.In the first case, the incompatibility was remedied by the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Remedial) Order 2012. In the second case, while the Government’s application to appeal to the Supreme Court was outstanding, changes were made to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and to the Police Act 1997 by secondary legislation in response to the Court of Appeal’s earlier judgment.

Prime Minister

Public Appointments

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 3 July 2015 to Question 4411, whether political, trade and other envoys appointed under the previous Government are still in post.

Mr David Cameron: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 3 July 2015, UIN 4411.

Cabinet Manual

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister, when the process for producing a revised edition of the Cabinet Manual will begin; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the text is subject to the widest possible consultation while in draft form.

Mr David Cameron: The passage of new legislation, the evolution of conventions and changes to internal government procedure will mean that the Cabinet Manual needs updating. The Government will announce its intentions in due course.

UK Membership of EU: Referendums

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to make clear in the Ministerial Code steps to preserve Cabinet collective responsibility during the European referendum campaign.

Mr Graham Allen: To ask the Prime Minister, when he plans to issue a new edition of the Ministerial Code; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron: It is customary for the Ministerial Code to be updated and reissued after a General Election. A revised Ministerial Code will be published shortly and copies will be placed in the libraries of both Houses.The principles around collective responsibility are established processes which have been set out in successive versions of the Ministerial Code.

Uber

Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions he has had with representatives of Uber in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron: Details of my meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available via the gov.uk website.

Ministry of Defence

Iraq: Military Aid

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the Government has spent on operations in support of Iraqi troops in each month since April 2009.

Michael Fallon: Between 30 April 2009 and 22 May 2011, small numbers of UK personnel were involved in training Iraqi Armed Forces under the NATO Training Mission-Iraq, and bilaterally with the Iraqi Navy. These net additional costs can not be separately identified from the costs associated with our broader presence in the Gulf during that period.From May 2011 to August 2014, no additional support was provided beyond routine engagement by the Defence Section in Baghdad.The net additional costs of operations in support of Iraqi forces since August 2014 can not be separately identified from the costs of the broader countering ISIL activity in Iraq and Syria. These costs between August 2014 and 31 March 2015 were around £45 million, met from the Deployed Military Activity Pool and the HM Treasury Special Reserve, In addition, the replenishment cost of munitions expended in that period was approximately £35 million - the weapons will be replaced in financial year 2015-16.

Middle East: Peacekeeping Operations

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) precision-guided munitions and (b) gravity bombs of each type were dropped in Afghanistan and Iraq by British (i) fixed-wing aircraft and (ii) unmanned aerial vehicles since 7 July 2014.

Penny Mordaunt: RAF airstrikes in Iraq commenced following the Parliamentary vote in September 2014. Since then the RAF has released 198 Paveway IV and 82 Dual Mode Brimstone precision guided munitions in Iraq from fixed wing aircraft, specifically Tornado GR4. During the same period remotely piloted air systems, specifically Reaper MQ-9, released 155 Hellfire and four GBU-12 precision guided munitions in Iraq. These statistics are accurate up to and including 30 June 2015.In Afghanistan, between 7 July 2014 and the end of Op HERRICK in late 2014, the RAF released two Paveway IV and four Dual Mode Brimstone precision guided munitions from fixed wing aircraft, specifically Tornado GR4. During the same period RAF remotely piloted air systems, specifically Reaper MQ-9, released 27 Hellfire precision guided munitions in Afghanistan. No such weapons have been released since the end of Op HERRICK.There have been no unguided munitions, sometimes referred to as gravity bombs, used in either Afghanistan or Iraq during the period in question.

Hunting

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2015 to Question 5458, how many trail hunts have taken place on his Department's land for each year since 2010.

Mark Lancaster: The number of trail hunts that have taken place on Ministry of Defence land in each hunting season (September until April) since 2008-09 is shown below. Hunting Season Number of Trail Hunts2008-092222009-101322010-112302011-121561012-132082013-142482014-15160* *Not all information for the 2014-15 season is currently available.

Bahrain: Military Bases

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent representations have been received by his Department on plans to build a permanent UK naval base in Bahrain.

Penny Mordaunt: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to support the Bahrain Defence Force in the agreement to improve facilities at the Mina Salman Port in Bahrain. This process is led and owned by Bahrain. The MOD will continue to provide support and advice when required for this project, as part of our partnership with Bahrain.The agreement with Bahrain will provide a permanent base for UK mine hunters and it will support other Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels in the Gulf region. The enhanced facilities will provide better support for ships on operations, equipment storage and multi-purpose accommodation for Service personnel.

Yemen: Military Aid

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Government is assisting the Saudi-led offensive in Yemen by the provision of (a) personnel, (b) aircraft, (c) training and (d) any other type of support.

Michael Fallon: In addition to UK personnel wholly providing support for British-supplied equipment, we have a small number of liaison personnel in Saudi coalition Headquarters, including the Maritime Coalition Co-ordination Centre that supports the enablement of humanatarian aid into Yemen. There are no UK aircraft or training in direct support of Saudi operations. We continue to supply equipment that conforms to our export criteria.

Strategic Defence and Security Review

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many officials are working (a) in his Department and (b) across Government on the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Michael Fallon: The Ministry of Defence is focused on fully supporting the Cabinet Office-led Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) as a key priority. Information on the total number of officials working on the SDSR across Government is not held.

Armed Forces: Re-employment

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel made redundant in each year since 2010 his Department has re-employed.

Mark Lancaster: The following table shows the number of Service personnel who were made redundant in each specified year who were subsequently re-employed by the Ministry of Defence. Financial Year2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Number of Service Personnel made Redundant (see note 1)01,7003,4704,2801,350Number of Redundant Service Personnel who have since been re-employed (see note 2)0110320470120 Note 1 - Service personnel excludes Full Time Reservists personnel, Gurkhas, Naval activated Reservists, mobilised Reservists, Military Provost Guard Service and Non Regular Permanent Staff. Note 2 - Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. The number re-employed refer to Service personnel who left the UK Regular Forces on redundancy and have since been re-employed as a UK Regular, Reservist, or MOD Civil Servant.

Veterans: Re-employment

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former members of the armed forces his Department has re-employed in each year since 2010.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence only holds relevant information on the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system dating from April 2007. The following table therefore shows the number of Armed Forces personnel who, having left their Service since April 2007, were subsequently re-employed by the Department in each requested year. Financial Year2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15Number of Service Personnel who left service who have since been re-employed (see note 1)1,7401,8102,0402,6803,740 Note 1 – Service personnel excludes Full Time Reserve Service personnel and reservists.Note 2 – Figures prior to Financial Year 2013/14 are reported as estimates due to a change in methodology used to identify personnel who were re-employed to the Reserves.Note 3 - Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10, though numbers ending in “5” have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias. The number re-employed refer to Service personnel who left the UK Regular Forces and have since been re-employed as a UK Regular, Reservist, or MOD Civil Servant.

Mediterranean Sea: Refugees

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many refugees the Royal Navy has rescued in the Mediterranean (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of all those rescued.

Penny Mordaunt: To date, the Royal Navy has rescued 4,752 persons under its Search and Rescue mission in the Mediterranean. The Royal Navy does not record whether a rescued person is a refugee or an economic migrant; this is the responsibility of the receiving nation (in this instance, Italy). The Ministry of Defence does not hold overall statistics of all those rescued at sea by other nations.

Air Displays

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made by RAF Charitable Enterprises on its review of RAF air shows.

Mark Lancaster: The RAF Charitable Trust are doing further detailed work, following on from the March 2015 review. Their report will be submitted to the RAF for consideration shortly.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many jobs have been created in the UK by the French-Israeli Thales/Elbit Joint Venture for Watchkeeper.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Watchkeeper air vehicle is manufactured by UAV Tactical Systems Ltd, a joint venture between Elbit Systems UK and Thales UK, under a sub-contract from Thales UK, the Watchkeeper prime contractor. The Ministry of Defence has no direct commercial relationship with UAV Tactical Systems Ltd and no estimate has therefore been made of the number of persons employed by the company. The wider Watchkeeper supply-chain sustains high-quality jobs at a number of locations across the United Kingdom.

Defence

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his policy is on establishing a minimum level of expenditure on defence expressed as a percentage of GDP.

Michael Fallon: As announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Summer Budget 2015, this Government has committed to meet the NATO pledge to spend 2% of GDP on defence in every year of this decade.

Islamic State

Dr Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to defeat ISIL.

Michael Fallon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave earlier today to the hon. Members for Redditch (Karen Lumley) and Southend West (David Amess).

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Epilepsy

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how epilepsy is taken into account in (a) work capability assessments, (b) entitlement to benefits and (c) assessments for availability for work for people with that condition.

Priti Patel: The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was introduced by the last Labour government in October 2008 and was developed in consultation with medical and other experts, including representative groups to ensure it is appropriate for all conditions. Entitlement to benefit does not depend on the condition itself, the underlying cause or how it is classified, but on the disabling effects of the condition(s) present. When assessing a claimant, Healthcare Professionals are expected to be mindful of the fact that many illnesses produce symptoms that vary in intensity over time, and are instructed not to base their opinion solely on the situation as observed at the assessment.

Severn Estuary: Contamination

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the likelihood of a major contamination of the Severn Estuary downhill of the Radcliffe Bay Petroleum Storage Depot in North Somerset.

Justin Tomlinson: The Radcliffe Bay Petroleum Storage Depot is subject to the Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) Regulations 2015 at Upper Tier. This requires it to produce a Safety Report that includes an assessment of the hazards posed by the site to its environmental surroundings including the Severn Estuary, the measures in place to prevent an accident and a plan for mitigatory action, including clean-up, in the event of an accident. Through these Regulations the Environment Agency is working with the site to ensure that adequate and appropriate risk assessments are in place.

Access to Work Programme

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Access to Work in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK were for someone who was self-employed in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available.

Access to Work Programme

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Access to Work in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK were for an employee with mental health problems in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available.

Access to Work Programme

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Access to Work in (a) Edinburgh, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK were placed on behalf of an employer by jobcentre plus staff in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available.

Personal Income

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average income was of a working household (a) with and (b) without children in each of the last three years.

Priti Patel: Estimates for median equivalised household disposable income before housing costs for working households in the UK with and without children for 2011/12, 2012/13, and 2013/14 are presented in the table below. YearWorking Households with ChildrenWorking Households without Children2011/12£453£5812012/13£452£5782013/14£449£579 Source: HBAI 2013/14  Notes1. Estimates are in terms of pound (£) per week and are presented in 2013/14 prices, based on adjustments in line with RPI. All figures have been rounded to the nearest pound (£). 2. Working households are those in which at least one adult is in work. 3. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to a degree of uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response.

Access to Work Programme

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications for Access to Work in (a) Scotland and (b) the UK in each of the last three years were for an existing employee seeking to remain in work.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available.

State Retirement Pensions

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to reverse the decision to remove derived entitlements to the basic state pension; and if he will make a statement.

Justin Tomlinson: The ability to derive a basic state pension or increase of basic state pension based on the National Insurance contributions of a spouse or civil partner is a feature of the current state pension scheme. It will continue to be available to people who reach state pension age before the introduction of the new state pension on 6 April 2016 and who will, therefore, remain in the current scheme. This provision, which dates from the 1940s, is rapidly becoming redundant as the majority of individuals who have spent most of their working lives in the UK have the opportunity to build up a state pension in their own right, either through working or credits that recognise a wide range of circumstances, including caring responsibilities. The new state pension is designed to reflect the working lives of people reaching state pension age now and in the future. It will accordingly be based on an individual’s own National Insurance contributions.

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Dr Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 March 2015 to Question 225002, when his Department plans to publish statistics on the number of hardship applications and awards in Scotland; and for what reason those statistics were not published in May 2015.

Priti Patel: The Department intends to publish figures on the number of hardship applications and awards over the summer and I have asked my officials to set a publication date. This will allow more recent figures to be included than those that could be included in May. The publication will include figures covering the whole of Great Britain.

Incapacity Benefit

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2955 and the oral Answer by the Prime Minister of 24 June 2015, Official Report, column 885, on what date and for what reasons Government policy on the release of statistics on incapacity benefit claimants who died during or after their work capability assessment changed.

Priti Patel: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 3 July 2015 to Question UIN4401.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which 20 Jobcentre Plus offices applied the largest number of sanctions in 2014-15.

Priti Patel: The available information on the number of sanction decisions, in respect of Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance, by Jobcentre Plus is published at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/: Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started---SuperWEB2.html

Social Security Benefits: Aberdeen

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2015 to Question 3935, what factors in addition to efficiency his Department took into account in its decision to use links to Stat-Xplore to answer Parliamentary Questions.

Justin Tomlinson: It is the Department’s policy to make as wide a range of detailed statistics available via on-line tools to allow everyone equality of access and support the Government’s Open Data agenda. These are designed to be comprehensive and easy to use so all users can extract the information they need. DWP staff will be holding training sessions for the House of Commons officials and MP’s in the near future.

Children: Poverty

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the prevalence of child poverty; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: This Government is committed to working to eliminate child poverty and improving life chances for children. We have recently outlined a new approach to tackle the root causes of poverty and make a real difference to children’s lives. The Welfare Reform and Work Bill, introduced to Parliament on 9 July, includes a new statutory duty for Government to report on measures of worklessness and educational attainment. This will drive action that makes the biggest difference to the lives of poor children, both now and in the future. We will set our further plans in a Life Chances Strategy in due course.

Department for Work and Pensions: Living Wage

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2015 to Question 5553, how many of the outsourced staff working for his Department's contractors and their service partners outside London who are paid at or below the Living Wage are paid (a) the Living Wage and (b) less than the Living Wage.

Priti Patel: By working with contractors, we have ensured all staff in London are paid the Living Wage. We are currently I discussions aimed at ensuring the same is true in all sites across the country.

Social Security Benefits: Aberdeen

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2015 to Question 3935, what the agreed procedures referred to are; when and by whom they were agreed; and if he will place in the Library a copy of those procedures.

Justin Tomlinson: Following agreement from the Ministers in the Department at the time, the internal guidance for answering Parliamentary Questions that contain official statistics was updated in 2012. It is not departmental policy to place internal guidance in the House of Commons library.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Bees

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the size of the bee population.

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the change in the UK's bee population since December 2013.

George Eustice: Recording from volunteer societies provides a rich source of data and complex modelling can be used to produce trends. In 2014, using this approach, Defra published a pilot indicator of changes in the bee population in the UK between 1980 and 2010. Between 1980 and 2010, the indicator fell to 62 percent of its 1980 value. It is not yet possible to provide a trend since 2013; further development of the indicator should allow for assessment in future years.   The Government continues to work to strengthen monitoring of insect pollinators. In early 2014, Defra commissioned a two-year research study to design and test a robust and affordable national monitoring framework that can be applied across the UK. This study is due to be completed later this year. It has made significant progress with engaging key audiences involved in insect and wider biodiversity monitoring and is currently testing pilot methods at sites across the UK.

Bees

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received from charities, experts and lobby groups on the UK bee population.

George Eustice: The Government has received many representations from charities, experts and lobby groups about bees. We are working with more than 15 partners to help deliver the National Pollinator Strategy, including: the Soil Association, the Bee Farmers’ Association, the Royal Horticultural Society, the Country Landowners & Business Association, Friends of the Earth, the British Beekeepers Association, the National Trust, Buglife, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the Wildlife Trusts, Pesticide Action Network UK, CIRIA, Plantlife, the Campaign for the Farmed Environment and universities.

Capercaillie: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to increase numbers of and habitat for capercaillies.

Rory Stewart: Capercaillies are protected under the Wild Birds Directive and its habitat is afforded protection through the network of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) classified under the Directive. In England the species does not occur in sufficient qualifying numbers to warrant SPA provision.

Angling: Foreign Nationals

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will request the Environment Agency to conduct a public information campaign for non-UK passport holders on fish stock management in the UK's waterways and rivers to improve the long-term sustainability of freshwater fish stocks.

George Eustice: The Environment Agency funds a targeted campaign called “Building Bridges” which educates migrant anglers about English fishing laws and customs. The project operates at a national level, as well as focussing on specific areas with high numbers of migrant anglers. It is currently delivered by the Angling Trust.   More details can be found at:   http://www.anglingtrust.net/page.asp?section=709&sectionTitle=Building+Bridges+with+Migrant+Anglers

Hedgehogs: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to improve habitats for hedgehogs.

Rory Stewart: In England, we will take forward our manifesto commitment to produce a 25 year strategy for the environment, which will include biodiversity. Our approach will be designed to meet the habitat needs of many species including hedgehogs.   Agri-environment schemes are the principle means of improving habitats and the wider environment on farmland in England. The Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package and other measures in the new Countryside Stewardship scheme will help to provide suitable habitat for a range of wildlife in England including hedgehogs.

Food: Crops

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to increase the effective use of agricultural land for food production.

George Eustice: Defra is investing £4.2million over three years in the Sustainable Intensification research Platform (SIP). This is investigating integrated approaches for farmers to increase their productivity while simultaneously protecting and enhancing the natural environment.

Partridges: Conservation

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to improve habitats for grey partridges.

Rory Stewart: The Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package options within our new Countryside Stewardship scheme will be of benefit to the grey partridge by providing winter feeding, nesting sites and food for chicks through appropriate management of farmland habitats.

Angling: Licensing

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the cost of fishing licences is allocated to the protection of fish stocks through the deployment of bailiffs.

George Eustice: In 2014-15, 6.3% of rod licence income was used to fund Environment Agency officers carrying out compliance checks and enforcing regulations.

Deer

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate she has made of the number of deer in the UK; and how many deer are culled each year.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many people are employed in jobs relating to deer farming and hunting; and if she will estimate how many people participate in deer shooting.

Rory Stewart: Defra does not hold such information, nor has it made any recent estimates.   Published sources estimate that there are over one and a half million wild deer in the UK, of which 350,000 are culled each year by over 100,000 deer stalkers. The industry claims that around 2,500 jobs are provided by deer management. There are a further 32,000 deer on farms in the UK.

Venison: Prices

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information her Department holds on changes in the price of venison in the UK in the last five years.

George Eustice: Our annual accounts show that the price of venison rose from £3.55 per kilogram in 2009 to £4.94 per kilogram in 2014.

Oilseed Rape

Mike Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had on the potential health effects of the cultivation of oilseed rape with the (a) Secretary of State for Health, (b) Secretary of State for Scotland and (c) Scottish Government.

George Eustice: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 9 July 2015, PQ UIN 5754.

Angling: Licensing

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will amend the fishing licensing regime to enable day licences to be more easily issued by independent fishing venues without requiring costly security measures.

George Eustice: The rod licensing regime is currently being reviewed by the Environment Agency. This is evaluating the scope for a broader range of licensing options, including the ways of issuing licences and the greater future use of digital channels.

Oilseed Rape

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the amount of oilseed rape produced since December 2013.

George Eustice: The oilseed rape harvest in 2014 saw an increase in UK production of 16% to nearly 2.5 million tonnes following favourable weather conditions during the 2013/14 growing season. This higher production reflects an increase in yield of oilseed rape by 23%. The area sown to oilseed rape in 2014 was 675 thousand hectares, which was nearly 6% lower than that sown in 2013. Full details can be found in the Farming Statistics release which was published on 18 December 2014 on the Defra website.  A recent survey carried out by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) Cereals and Oilseeds team indicates that the area sown to oilseed rape in Great Britain in 2015 has fallen to 627 thousand hectares. Provisional production estimates for the 2015 harvest will be published by Defra in October.

Livestock: MRSA

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Oral Answer of the Minister of State, the hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth of 18 June 2015, Official Report, column 445, what the evidential basis is for the statement that livestock-associated MRSA does not cross to the human population; and what assessment her Department has made of evidence that MRSA ST398 can and does pass from pigs to humans, causing serious infections and fatalities.

George Eustice: The most common type of LA-MRSA in Europe belongs to clonal complex 398 (CC398). MRSA CC398 is less virulent and transmissible compared to other strains and is unlikely to pass from person to person and become endemic in the human population.   However studies from various countries in continental Europe have demonstrated that in limited circumstances it is possible for MRSA CC398 to be transmitted from animals to people. This tends to be constrained to those who have regular contact with livestock that are carrying the bacteria, in particular pigs.

Farms: Tenants

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she plans to include provisions to extend the length of farm business tenancies in her proposed long-term plan for food and farming.

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage the letting of longer-term farm business tenancies.

George Eustice: The Government recognises that longer tenancies for some farm businesses are important to provide tenants with security to invest and grow their businesses. Flexibility to agree contracts that suit a range of business needs is also important to enable a diverse farming sector. We are working closely with industry to develop policy priorities for a 25-year Food and Farming Plan. Agricultural tenancies and other farming business models will be considered as part of these discussions to help deliver a competitive farming sector in future.

Farms: Tenants

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on reforming the taxation of let agricultural land to encourage longer-term farm business tenancies.

George Eustice: The Secretary of State has had no discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on this issue.

Farms: Tenants

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 in improving the efficiency of land use in the agricultural sector.

George Eustice: An assessment of the Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995 was published in 2002. This included the extent to which the Act had improved the economic efficiency of land use. The assessment concluded there was some evidence of an improvement in economic efficiency, but clearer evidence that the Act had resulted in an increase in let land and that Farm Business Tenancies had provided a simple vehicle to enable farm businesses to expand.   Data on the areas of land under different agricultural tenures can be found on GOV.UK (at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/structure-of-the-agricultural-industry-in-england-and-the-uk-at-june and https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/farm-rents).

Plants: Labelling

Jim Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage the clearer labelling of plants, flowers and seeds to inform consumers of the potential risk they pose to cats and dogs.

George Eustice: Many plants, flowers and seeds pose a risk to cats and dogs and I am very supportive of measures to increase awareness among the public of the dangers, including through voluntary labelling of products by producers and retailers.   Many animal welfare charities also produce advice for pet owners on the risks and help spread the message of the dangers. Pet owners should consult their vet if they suspect their pet has consumed any dangerous or toxic plant product. Vets have access to the Veterinary Poisons Information Service ( http://vpisglobal.com/common-poisons/ ).

Department for Communities and Local Government

Commission for Local Administration in England

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to improve public accountability of the Local Government Ombudsman.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Local Government Ombudsman is independent of both Government and local authorities as regards their determination of specific cases but is accountable to Parliament for the performance of the Local Government Ombudsman service and is statutorily required to lay before Parliament its annual report and accounts. In addition the Communities and Local Government Committee have held inquiries into the service's work which has involved the Local Government Ombudsman giving evidence before the Committee. In the Queen's Speech, the Government announced that it would publish a draft Bill creating a single Public Service Ombudsman in this Parliamentary session. In establishing such a Public Services Ombudsman which will improve redress when things go wrong, the Government would put arrangements in place to ensure that there is clear and transparent accountability for this new Ombudsman service.

Local Government: Constituencies

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will undertake a feasibility study of reverting the boundaries of Yorkshire to those prior to the splitting of the region after the Local Government Act 1972.

Mr Marcus Jones: Whilst the Government recognises the part historic counties can play in our traditions and local heritage across the country, we have no plans to undertake top down studies or reviews of local boundaries. We are ready to have conversations with any area about their proposals for the future governance of that area and the powers and budgets they would like to see devolved to it.

Families: Disadvantaged

Mr David Burrowes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.77 of Autumn Statement, Cm 8961, what progress he has made on further integrating services by developing and extending the principles underpinning the Troubled Families programme approach to other groups of people with multiple needs.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 07 July 2015



The expanded Troubled Families Programme was rolled out in April 2015, to work with up to another 400,000 families with multiple problems - and to help transform the way services work with these vulnerable families. Officials from my Department have also been exploring futher potential opportunities for this approach with other government departments.

Social Rented Housing: EU Nationals

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many citizens of other EU countries live in social housing in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) England; and what proportion of all citizens of other EU countries resident in each constituent part of the UK are so housed.

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of the total affordable housing stock in (a) Scotland, (b) Wales, (c) Northern Ireland and (d) England is leased to citizens of other EU countries.

Brandon Lewis: English Housing Survey data shows that in 2012-13 there were 129,000 households living in social housing in England with a household reference person whose nationality was an EU country other than UK. This represents 15% of all households in England with a household reference person whose nationality was an EU country other than UK.Information on the proportion of the total affordable housing stock in England which is leased to citizens of other EU countries is not held centrally.Housing in Scotland, Wales or Northen Ireland is a matter for the devolved adminstrations.

Planning Permission: Appeals

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to call in those planning applications for further consideration which have been initially rejected but allowed on appeal.

Brandon Lewis: There are no plans to change the planning appeal system to enable central government intervention after a decision on an appeal has been taken. The current system allows for any planning appeal to be recovered from the Planning Inspectorate for determination by the Secretary of State at any point up to publication of the appeal decision. Once the decision has been published, aggrieved parties can seek to legally challenge it within prescribed timescales.

Planning

Michelle Donelan: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that local residents have more of a say over planning decisions in their area.

Brandon Lewis: Neighbourhood planning, introduced in the 2011 Localism Act, gives local people a stronger role in shaping the areas in which they live and work. For the first time community groups can produce plans that have real statutory weight in the planning system. They are able to choose where they want new homes, shops and offices to be built, have their say on what those new buildings should look like and what infrastructure should be provided, and grant planning permission for the new buildings they want to see go ahead. To date, over 1,500 local areas have been designated for neighbourhood planning, with 74 successful referendums and 62 plans and orders brought into force. The Government announced in the Queen’s Speech that the Housing Bill would include measures to simplify and speed up the neighbourhood planning system, to support communities that seek to meet local housing and other development needs through neighbourhood planning. We have also launched a £22.5 million support programme for 2015 – 2018, providing grants and technical assistance to neighbourhood planning groups, and published a suite of resources to make it easier and quicker for communities to progress their plans.

Empty Property

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect on the provision of residential development of the Vacant Building Credit; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: The Vacant Building Credit aims to promote housing development on brownfield sites, by allowing developers to offset the vacant building's floorspace that was due to be redeveloped for residential use against Section 106 affordable housing requirements.We carried out a public consultation on these changes in March 2014 and as a result amended proposals to include buildings demolished for new development.

Local Government: Peterborough

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the City Deals programme to Peterborough.

James Wharton: The Government is committed to devolving powers and budgets to maximise local economic growth. Building on the very successful City Deal programmes in the last Parliament, we have also been clear that we are open to discussing such proposals from all areas, towns and counties. We have been actively encouraging all areas to make compelling cases for increased powers and greater flexibility, and to demonstrate that there is strong governance over an appropriate geography, as well as the capacity and capability to deliver.

Regional Planning and Development: North of England

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what powers will be devolved to cities and regions as part of the Northern Powerhouse policy programme.

James Wharton: The powers to be devolved to cities, counties, towns and districts in the Northern Powerhouse will depend on the proposals brought forward by local areas. The Government recognises that no two places are alike, and that the people who live, work and do business in each place know best what their area needs to prosper and grow. As a result, the powers devolved to different parts of the Northern Powerhouse will vary depending on local circumstances and the proposals brought forward by each area.

Regional Planning and Development: Bradford

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what economic benefits the Northern Powerhouse policy programme will bring to Bradford.

James Wharton: Rebalancing the economy by creating a Northern Powerhouse is part of the Government’s long-term economic plan. The objective is simple, to allow the North to pool its strengths and become greater than the sum of its parts. This includes Bradford which already benefits from a City Deal and a Growth Deal agreed between Leeds City Region and Government. These Deals include: The £1 billion West Yorkshire plus Transport Fund;Support for One City Park to further the transformation of Bradford city centre;Programmes to help more young people into apprenticeships, other jobs and training. The Growth Deal will see £627.5 million invested in the region. It will help create up to 10,000 jobs, 2,000 homes and has the potential to generate £640 million in public and private investment.

Regional Planning and Development: North of England

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much funding will be allocated to the Northern Powerhouse policy programme.

James Wharton: Rebalancing the economy by creating a Northern Powerhouse is part of the Government’s long-term economic plan to raise the growth rate of the North, which could add an extra £44 billion to the Northern economy in real terms by 2030. Commitments so far include: £30 million to establish Transport for the North as a statutory body to help drive forward smart and integrated ticketing and east-west connectivity;£13 billion investment to transport in the north of England, including providing new trains through the new northern rail franchise;A further £2.7 billion of investment for new trains on the east coast and investing in major road upgrades;Committing over £34 million in science and innovation, including £20 million to Health North to enable better care for patients; and£11 million for tech incubators in Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.

Social Rented Housing: EU Nationals

Deidre  Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether the proposed four-year residency requirement for EU citizens to access social housing is intended to apply throughout the UK.

Brandon Lewis: As housing is a devolved matter, this change will apply to England and it will be for the devolved administrations to take their decisions as to whether they would wish to apply a similar requirement in their areas.

Housing: Construction

Karen Lumley: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to increase house building by 2030.

Brandon Lewis: This Government is committed to increasing housing supply and home ownership. We have already made progress - housing completions in the quarter to March 2015 are up 21% on the same quarter in the previous year; starts on new homes in the year to March 2015 totalled 140,500, the highest annual total since 2007; and planning permissions were granted for 261,000 homes in the year to March 2015 – but there is more to be done.This year we will introduce a Housing Bill to unlock brownfield land to build new homes; provide the framework to deliver starter homes and extend Right to Buy to housing association tenants.We will help builders to build: Public sector land has already been released to deliver over 109,000 new homes and over 100,000 homes have been supported through the £1.3 billion Large Sites programme. Over this Parliament we have ambitions to release public sector land for 150,000 homes; kick-start development in 20 Housing Zones outside London, which with 8 other shortlisted sites has the potential to deliver up to 45,000 new homes; create a £1 billion Brownfield Fund; and provide capacity funding to support the development of new garden settlements. We will support small and medium sized enterprises through the Builders’ Finance Fund (2015-17) and the £100 million Housing Growth Partnership with Lloyds Bank. We want to double the number of custom and self-built homes through ‘Right to Build’ and a £150 million fund for serviced plots.Nearly 2 million households have been helped to realise aspirations to own their homes through Government-backed schemes. This Government will build 200,000 Starter Homes exclusively for first-time buyers under 40 years old, at a minimum of 20 per cent below open market value; extend Help to Buy Mortgages to 2020; and introduce a Help to Buy ISA to help people save for a deposit. Finally, we will give more people the chance to own their home by extending Right to Buy discounts to tenants of housing associations.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of social housing tenants required to pay higher rent under the Pay to Stay scheme in each year since that policy was introduced.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much additional rent has been collected in each year since the Pay to Stay policy was introduced.

Brandon Lewis: Estimates on the number of households that would be affected by the policy was published in Annex A of the summary of responses to consultation document in 2013 which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/225313/High_Income_Social_Tenants_-_Pay_to_stay.pdf.We do not collect information on additional rent collected.

Community Infrastructure Levy

Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce legislative proposals for a statutory requirement for local authorities to give priority to provision of local sporting facilities when considering how best to utilise section 106 community infrastructure levy payments from developers.

Nusrat Ghani: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of section 106 community infrastructure levy payments in (a) England, (b) East Sussex and (c) Wealden constituency have been directed to provision of sporting facilities in each of the last (i) five, (ii) 10 and (iii) 15 years.

Brandon Lewis: Section 106 planning obligations and the Community Infrastructure Levy provide separate mechanisms for securing developer contributions to infrastructure such as roads, schools, flood defences, health and sporting facilities. Local authorities decide how these contributions and receipts are spent , based on local circumstances andthe views of the community, and this information is held locally.

Social Rented Housing

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of households in social housing in each parliamentary constituency outside London have an annual income above £30,000.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of households in social housing in each parliamentary constituency in London have an annual income above £40,000.

Brandon Lewis: We do not hold this information at parliamentary constituency level.

Hospitals: Parking

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to introduce a statutory maximum penalty which can be levied on people who incur penalty charges for hospital car parking; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Department of Communities and Local Government published a discussion paper and call for evidence on Parking reform: tackling unfair practices on the 28 March 2015. We are currently considering the responses, which cover the issue of NHS Car Parks. We intend to publish a summary of responses as soon as possible. The Department of Health published in August 2014 the ‘NHS Patient, Visitor and Staff Car Parking Principles’. These set out what patients, the public and the Government can expect the NHS to deliver in respect of hospital car parking and are a baseline against which the public can locally hold the NHS to account for unfair charges or practices. The car parking principles can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles

Shared Ownership Schemes

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what proportion of homes in England were shared-ownership homes in each year since 2010.

Brandon Lewis: Census 2011 counts of shared-ownership and total dwelling stock, from which the proportion of homes in England that were shared-ownership may be derived, are published by the Office for National Statistics, in table CT0259, which is available at the following link: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/search/index.html?newquery=ct0259 The Census showed that shared-ownership dwellings (173,582) represent 0.76 per cent of the total dwelling stock (22,976,066) in England, as at 27 March 2011. The requested information is not available for non-Census years.

Right to Buy Scheme

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the selling of vacant council homes to fund the extension of right to buy to housing associations on the ability of young people to keep residing in the area where they grew up.

Brandon Lewis: Ministers and senior officials are engaging with the sector on the details of the scheme, which will be set out when the Housing Bill is published.

Right to Buy Scheme

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will estimate what proportion of properties in the right to buy scheme will be family houses with (a) two and (b) more than two bedrooms in each of the five years of the extension of that policy to housing associations.

Brandon Lewis: Details will be set out when the Housing Bill is published. Published data on Right to buy sales showing the number of bedrooms is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2013-to-2014 .

Forests

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will amend National Planning Policy Framework guidance to enable communities to strengthen protection for local ancient woodland.

Brandon Lewis: The existing protection for ancient woodland in the Framework is strong and it is very clear that development of these areas should be avoided. This is supported by our planning practice guidance.

Change of Use

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of permitted development rights for converting offices to homes on office rental prices; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether it is his policy to extend temporary permitted development rights beyond May 2016.

Brandon Lewis: On the 30 May 2013 a new permitted development right was introduced that grants planning permission for the change of use from offices (B1(a) use class) to residential (C3 use class). This right ends on 30 May 2016.We issued a Written Ministerial Statement on 25 March 2015, HCWS488, which noted that further consideration would be given to extending the office to residential permitted development right, and this remains the case.

Communities and Local Government: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Stuart Blair Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what the name, responsibilities and pay band are of each special adviser in his Department.

Mr Mark Francois: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my rt. hon. Friend the Minister for the Cabinet Office today, PQ 5983.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Pay

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what bonuses were paid to (a) officials and (b) special advisers in his Department in each of the last three financial years; and for what reasons each such bonus was awarded.

David Mundell: All staff in the Scotland Office are on assignment, secondment or loan from other Government bodies, in the majority of cases, the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice. Staff may be eligible for bonuses, in addition to basic salary, through their parent bodies' pay arrangements.The Scotland Office is not responsible for payments made through end of year performance payments or allowances under staffs' parent bodies' pay arrangements and does not hold information centrally on these matters.The Scotland Office is able to authorise directly non-consolidated and non-pensionable bonus payments in recognition of special effort, achievement and commitment, where the payment of such bonuses forms part of the individual member of staff’s terms and conditions. The current bonus arrangements do not apply to staff on assignment from the Scottish Government.The following information shows the cost of such payments in the last three financial years:Financial YearTotal Cost of Payments (£)Number of Awards2012-13£3,05072013-14£4,700162014-15£00Special Advisers are not eligible for bonuses.

Scotland Act 2012

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Third Annual Report on the Implementation and Operation of Part 3 (Financial Provisions) of the Scotland Act 2012, published in March 2015, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Office of Government Commerce's Gateway 0 strategic assessment of the Scotland Act 2012 implementation programme; and if he will undertake to place in the Library the reports of subsequent such reviews by that Office.

David Mundell: The Government does not normally place such documents in the Library of the House and has committed to keeping Parliament updated on the implementation of the financial provisions of the Scotland Act 2012 through the Annual Report.

Immigration Controls: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what representations he has made to the Home Office on the effect of the minimum income threshold requirement for family visas (a) on affected families living in Scotland, (b) on the Scottish economy and (c) on communities across Scotland.

David Mundell: I am in contact with ministerial colleagues from the Home Office on a range of issues. The Immigration Rules referred to have now been in force for three years. Prior to their implementation the Government consulted widely, and the Scottish Government, local authorities and non-governmental organisations in Scotland were included in our consultation process. The Scottish Government and local authorities were also consulted separately by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in the preparation of its report to Government on this matter. The Government carefully considered responses to both the public consultation and the report from MAC when setting the minimum income threshold requirement for family visas, settling for the lower end of the income range recommended by MAC.

Food Banks: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2015 to Question 3621, what the reasons behind foodbank use referred to in that Answer are.

David Mundell: The All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry into food poverty and hunger recently published a report making clear that the use of food banks cannot be attributed to a single cause.The final report can be read here:https://feedingbritain.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/food-poverty-feeding-britain-final-2.pdf.

Food Banks: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2015 to Question 3621, whether he has discussed levels of food bank use in Scotland with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; and what plans he has to discuss that matter with that Minister in future.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scotland Office: Pay

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what his salary and the salaries of the Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and the Advocate General for Scotland were in 2014-15; and what those salaries are in the current financial year.

David Mundell: The salaries for the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland and the Advocate General for Scotland for 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 are shown below: Minister2014-20152015-2016Secretary of State for Scotland£68,827 – Entitled£67,505 – Claimed£69,254 – Entitled£67,505 – ClaimedParliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland£23,844 – Entitled£22,375 – Claimed£69,136 – Entitled£68,710 – ClaimedAdvocate General for Scotland£92,324 – Entitled£91,755 – Claimed.£92,324 – Entitled£91,755 – Claimed. The Prime Minister has determined that Ministers in the new Government should receive salaries set at the same rate as that claimed by equivalent Ministers in the previous Government. The Secretary of State for Scotland, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland and the Advocate General for Scotland in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 agreed to a reduction to the salaries which they are entitled to under the Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975.Details regarding Scotland Office Ministerial salaries can be found in the Offices’ annual report and accounts, which are published on GOV.UK. The Offices’ annual report for 2014-2015 will be laid in the House of Commons shortly. The figures provided in the Offices’ annual report and accounts will also include the Lords Office-Holder Allowance where it has been claimed.

HM Treasury

Council Tax

Mr Clive Betts: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many challenges against council tax banding on the current council tax valuation list are yet to be resolved in (a) total and (b) more than four months after the challenge was lodged in (i) Barnsley, (ii) Chesterfield, (iii) Doncaster, (iv) North East Derbyshire, (v) Bolsover, (vi) Bassetlaw, (vii) Derbyshire Dales, (viii) Rotherham and (ix) Sheffield.

Mr David Gauke: The Valuation Office Agency does not publish this information.

Inheritance Tax: Agriculture

Neil Parish: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to limit Agricultural Property Relief from inheritance tax to encourage longer term farm business tenancies.

Neil Parish: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the taxation of rural land and how that taxation effects decisions to let land on farm business tenancies.

Mr David Gauke: The government understands the importance of the agricultural sector to the UK economy. The Government keeps all taxes under review.

Social Security Benefits: EU Nationals

Deidre  Brock: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of savings to the public purse of restricted access to social security for citizens of other EU countries for the first four years of their residency in each of the next three financial years; and whether such restrictions apply to (a) child benefit and (b) tax credit claims.

Damian Hinds: Such estimates do not exist at the current time. The commitment to restrict access to benefits for four years is intended to ensure that EU migrants make a sustained economic contribution to the UK before they can take something out. The Government is also concerned to ensure that national welfare systems do not provide an unintended additional incentive for large migratory movements. For these reasons reforming access to benefits for mobile EU nationals is one of our priorities for the renegotiation and the Prime Minister is working with his European partners to achieve this.

Child Benefit: Northern Ireland

Tom Elliott: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been spent on child benefit in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Damian Hinds: The requested information is available in the publication ‘Disaggregated tax and NICs receipts: statistics table’ on the GOV.UK website: gov.uk/government/statistics/disaggregation-of-hmrc-tax-receipts.   This publication provides finalised figures for each country in the UK of the total amount paid by HMRC for Child Benefit in all tax years from 2003-04 to 2013-14, and also includes provisional figures for 2014-15 which are subject to change.   The relevant Child Benefit figures can be found in last column of the publication.

Electronic Cigarettes: Taxation

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what contribution his Department is making to Government proposals on the taxation of e-cigarettes being made to the European Commission's Fiscalis Programme.

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proposals his officials plan to make on the taxation of e-cigarettes to the European Commission's Fiscalis Programme.

Damian Hinds: HM Treasury officials are not making proposals on the taxation of e-cigarettes to the European Commission. They are engaging in preliminary technical discussions at the EU level through the Fiscalis programme.

Mortgages

James Cartlidge: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans that his Department's consultation on the tools which the Financial Policy Committee may use in relation to buy-to-let mortgage lending will consider whether this type of lending should be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the same way as residential mortgages.

James Cartlidge: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding of the Bank of England's Financial Stability Report of July 2015 regarding growth in buy-to-let mortgage lending and the potential risk to financial stability posed by such trends.

Harriett Baldwin: The July 2015 Financial Stability Report notes that buy-to-let mortgage lending now accounts for 15% of the stock of outstanding mortgages. The Financial Policy Committee have stated that they will continue to monitor this sector closely. In 2015, HM Treasury will publish a consultation on buy-to-let mortgage lending. The consultation will seek to build an in-depth evidence base on how the UK buy-to-let housing market may carry risks to financial stability.

Private Rented Housing: North West

Andrew Stephenson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many landlords have made a voluntary disclosure to HM Revenue and Customs through the Let Property Campaign in (a) the North West, (b) Lancashire and (c) Pendle constituency since that campaign began.

Andrew Stephenson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he expects to be able to provide information about how much previously-undeclared income has been declared as a result of the Let Property Campaign.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) launched the Let Property campaign in September 2013 with the objective of raising landlords’ awareness of the need to review their tax affairs to ensure they are in order. The campaign provides a voluntary disclosure opportunity to put right any previous errors or omissions, helping landlords to stay on track in future. HMRC will publish these figures in due course.

Welfare Tax Credits

Richard Burden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of tax credits on working families with children.

Damian Hinds: Working Tax Credit provides financial support to those families on low incomes and Child Tax Credit assists families on low or no income with the additional costs of raising children.   As the Chancellor set out in the Summer Budget, this Government is making changes to tax credits to put welfare spending on a more sustainable path and to ensure that support is focused on those who need it most.

Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much it costs per minute to telephone HM Revenue and Customs from a (a) landline and (b) mobile telephone; and if he will make it his policy to introduce free of charge telephone numbers for HM Revenue and Customs.

Mr David Gauke: Phone charges are the responsibility of Ofcom and full details of costs can be found on their website: http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/phone/how-much-does-a-phone-call-really-cost/   The cost of calls to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) helplines will vary depending on the call package that a customer has with their telephony provider.

Welfare Tax Credits: Birmingham Northfield

Richard Burden: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families in Birmingham, Northfield constituency are in receipt of tax credits.

Damian Hinds: The information is available on the publication ‘Personal tax credits: Finalised award statistics - geographical statistics’ available on the GOV.UK website here:  gov.uk/government/collections/personal-tax-credits-statistics.

Small Businesses

Mark Pritchard: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will discuss with the Financial Conduct Authority (a) the level of compliance fees for small businesses and (b) the amount of monthly compliance paperwork required from (i) independent financial advisers and (ii) leisure operators who sell credit.

Harriett Baldwin: This question has been passed on to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will reply to the honourable gentleman directly by letter. A copy of the response will be placed in the Library of the House.

Television: Licensing

Chris Bryant: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the full text of the agreement reached with the BBC that the BBC will fund the provision of TV Licences for those age over 75, announced on 6 July 2015.

Greg Hands: The full text of the agreement reached between the BBC and the government on funding of the over-75s free television licences has been published on the Gov.uk website, and can be found using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443735/Letter_from_George_Osborne_and_John_Whittingdale_to_Tony_Hall_FINAL.PDF

Television: Licensing

Chris Bryant: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish all correspondence he has had with the BBC on the agreement announced on 6 July 2015 that the BBC will fund the provision of TV licences for over-75s.

Greg Hands: The correspondence relating to the agreement has been published as follows: Letter from the government to the BBC detailing the agreement: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443735/Letter_from_George_Osborne_and_John_Whittingdale_to_Tony_Hall_FINAL.PDFLetter from the BBC to the government: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/tony-hall-letter-coe-sscms.pdfLetter from the BBC Trust to the government: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/2015/chancellor_sos

Inheritance Tax: Warrington

Helen Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people with postcodes in (a) Warrington and (b) Warrington North constituency paid inheritance tax in each year since 2010.

Mr David Gauke: The estimated number of estates with an Inheritance Tax liability where the deceased had a main residence with a postcode in Warrington is published as part of the Inheritance Tax Official Statistics.

Cider: Excise Duties

Toby Perkins: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy that the tax exemption for cider producers who sell under 70hl per annum remain in force.

Toby Perkins: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts in EU member states on the UK's tax exemption for cider producers who sell under 70hl per annum.

Toby Perkins: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the tax exemption for cider producers who sell under 70hl per annum on the British cider industry.

Damian Hinds: As announced at Summer Budget 2015, the government will retain the current duty exemption for small cider producers until and unless a replacement scheme is established.   The UK is discussing reforms to EU law with the EU commission and other Member States, so that it explicitly allows member states to support small cider makers through the duty regime. The government is also looking at alternatives that could apply. The government will work with industry on both of these.   Small cider makers are a traditional part of rural economies who help create a diverse and vibrant cider market and the government is committed to maintaining support for the industry.

Television: Licensing

Chris Bryant: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a financial assessment of the effect on the public purse and the BBC agreement announced on 6 July 2015 that the BBC will fund the provision of TV Licences for those age over 75.

Greg Hands: The financial assessment of the impact on the public purse of the agreement with the BBC to take on responsibility for funding over-75s free television licenses was published at the Budget.

Television: Licensing

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the continuation of free television licences for people over 75.

Greg Hands: The policy for continuation of free television licences for over-75s is set out in the published government and BBC agreement, which says that, at the BBC’s request, the BBC will take responsibility for the policy following this Parliament.

National Insurance Contributions: West Midlands

Karen Lumley: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of the employment allowance on businesses in the West Midlands.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publish bi-annual statistics on the take-up of the Employment Allowance. In the first year of the Employment Allowance, 2014-15, 89,000 employers in the West Midlands have benefitted. This equates to 90 per cent of eligible employers in the West Midlands.   https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employment-allowance-take-up-2014-to-2015-full-year-estimate   At the Summer Budget 2015 the Chancellor announced the Employment Allowance will be rising from £2,000 to £3,000 from April 2016.

Dorneywood: Official Hospitality

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was on the guest list at the barbecue he hosted at Dorneywood on 21 June 2015; and which (a) Government Ministers and (b) hon. Members were in attendance.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Government employed officials were present at the barbecue he hosted at Dorneywood on 21 June 2015 as (a) guests and (b) staff working at the event.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of the barbecue he hosted at Dorneywood on 21 June 2015.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which organisations provided the catering for the barbecue he hosted at Dorneywood on 21 June 2015; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the food and drink menu from the day.

Harriett Baldwin: The event held at Dorneywood on 21 June was hosted by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in a private capacity.

Welfare Tax Credits

Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of employees who receive more in tax credits than they pay in tax and National Insurance contributions.

Mr David Gauke: This answer is only available at disproportionate cost.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Mary Creagh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2015 to Question 5228, how much of the UK's £2 billion capital contribution to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is classified as overseas development aid.

Harriett Baldwin: The government will make a capital contribution of $3.1bn (£2bn) to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, to support much needed infrastructure investment in Asia and in turn increase global growth.   Additional funding was provided at the Summer Budget for this financial transaction. The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) annually reviews which international organisations are Official Development Assistance (ODA) eligible. The OECD has not taken any decisions on the ODA eligibility of the AIIB.   The government will seek approval from Parliament for this contribution under Section 11 of the International Development Act.

Part-time Employment

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what forecast his Department has made of the proportion of the workforce likely to be in part-time employment in each of the next five years.

Harriett Baldwin: The Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that employment will increase by nearly 1 million over this Parliament, but they do not produce a breakdown of their forecast by part-time employment. Over the last Parliament more than three quarters of the increase in employment came from full-time work. In the last year alone, full-time work has made up 85 per cent of the increase in employment. We have seen a larger increase in the proportion of women in the workforce in the last Parliament than in the previous three Parliaments put together.

Welfare Tax Credits: Armed Forces

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many serving members of each branch of the armed forces are in receipt of (a) child and (b) working tax credits.

Damian Hinds: The information is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Corporation Tax

Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the number of companies which pay less in corporation tax than their employees gain from tax credits annually.

Damian Hinds: The information is not held

Employment

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Summer Budget 2015, what estimate he has made of how many of the one million extra jobs projected by the Office for Budget Responsibility by 2020 will be filled by (a) UK citizens, (b) citizens of other EU countries and (c) citizens of non-EU countries.

Harriett Baldwin: The Office for Budget Responsibility do not provide a breakdown of their employment forecast by nationality. The UK benefits from controlled migration, attracting skilled migrants where needed, and genuine students for our world-class universities. Under the last Labour Parliament, employment amongst UK nationals fell while it increased for non-UK nationals – in the last Parliament, the majority of the rise in employment has gone to UK nationals.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Mary Creagh: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2015 to Question 5228, how much of the UK's £2 billion capital contribution to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is planned to be funded from the budget of the Department for International Development.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government will make a capital contribution of $3.1bn (£2bn) to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, to support much needed infrastructure investment in Asia and in turn increase global growth. Additional funding was provided at the Summer Budget for this financial transaction. This will not impact DfID existing budget. The current intention is that for 2015-16 this will be included in HM Treasury’s budget.   The Government will seek approval from Parliament for this contribution under Section 11 of the International Development Act.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Hydroelectric Power

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking to support the development of hydro-pumped storage projects.

Andrea Leadsom: The Department of Energy and Climate Change recognises the potential role that cost effective energy storage could play in contributing to a resilient, affordable and low carbon energy system in the UK.DECC has provided more than £18m of innovation support since 2012 to develop and demonstrate a range of energy storage technologies. This support has included a grant to a UK pumped hydro storage company to analyse the potential for wider deployment of new pumped hydro storage facilities in novel sites around Great Britain – for example, in disused quarries or other brownfield sites or using drinking water reservoirs.DECC is in regular dialogue with prospective developers of new pumped hydro storage projects, and is keen to understand the extent to which any barriers to deployment can be overcome in a way that is affordable to the bill payer.

Hydroelectric Power: Scotland

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what support her Department is providing to the two hydro-pumped storage projects in Scotland that have been added to the European Network Electricity Transmission System Operators draft Ten Year Network Development Plan for 2016 to assist them to become eligible for prospective inclusion on the EU's Projects of Common Interest list.

Andrea Leadsom: These projects have been proposed for inclusion in the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity draft Ten Year Network Development Plan for 2016. If they are included, they will be eligible to apply for Projects of Common Interest status as part of the 2017 revision of that list of projects.In order to receive Projects of Common Interest status, the projects must demonstrate cross-border Member State benefit, overall project benefits should outweigh costs, enhance security of supply, support renewables integration and facilitate market integration, as set out in the guidelines for trans-European energy infrastructure - TEN-E Regulation (EU) 347/2013.The Government will continue to support energy storage, including projects’ joining the EU’s Projects of Common Interest list, where they are a cost-effective addition to the UK’s energy system.

Hydroelectric Power

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the potential contribution of hydro-pumped storage projects to the UK electricity system.

Andrea Leadsom: Energy storage is one way to provide flexibility to the energy system, alongside demand side response, interconnection and smarter networks. The Department of Energy and Climate Change continues to assess the potential for all forms of energy storage, including pumped hydro, to benefit the UK energy system.With support from a DECC innovation grant, a UK pumped hydro storage developer has assessed the potential location of new pumped hydro sites around Great Britain. They concluded that up to 15GW of novel pumped storage could be possible, using various criteria such as the presence of existing or potential reservoirs, grid connection distance and whether the site is in an environmentally sensitive area. Other pumped storage developers have independently identified over 1 GW of additional potential pumped storage.

Energy: Prices

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the average change in household energy bills which occurred as a result of measures announced in the 2013 Autumn Statement.

Andrea Leadsom: In November 2014 DECC published estimates of the impact of energy and climate change policies on energy prices and bills[1]. The report included an estimate of the impact of the package of measures for household energy bills announced at the 2013 Autumn Statement.The report set out that the total reduction in individual household energy bills will depend on the energy supplier but estimated that, on average, this package was worth around £50 (including VAT) per household in 2014, broken down as follows: · A Government Electricity Rebate of £12 on household electricity bills in 2014/15 and 2015/16 delivered by energy suppliers. · A reduction in the cost of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO). While costs will vary across companies, the major energy suppliers announced that the changes will result in an average £30-£35 off bills in 2014. · Voluntary action by electricity distribution network operators (DNOs) to reduce network costs in 2014/15, leading to a further one-off deferral of around £5 on electricity bills on average.[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/estimated-impacts-of-energy-and-climate-change-policies-on-energy-prices-and-bills-2014

Energy: Prices

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the average domestic energy bill in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) the North West and (c) the UK in 2010 and 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: DECC domestic energy bill estimates are only produced at Public Energy Supply (PES) regional level, we do not have bill data for constituency level. The St Helens North constituency covers two PES regions, North West and Merseyside & North Wales.The tables below shows the estimated average annual 2014 energy bill (2015 data is not yet available) for customers in the UK, and the two relevant PES region.These are based on an assumed annual consumption of 3,800 kWh of electricity and 15,000 kWh of gas per year. 2014ElectricityGasTotalUK£592£752£1,344North West£596£748£1,344Merseyside and North Wales£634£755£1,3892010ElectricityGasTotalUK£474£564£1,038North West£451£567£1,018Merseyside and North Wales£489£567£1,056

Energy: Prices

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what support her Department offers to (a) people on low incomes, (b) people who live in rented accommodation and (c) pensioners to enable them to switch to the lowest priced energy tariffs.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government has implemented a range of measures to support vulnerable households reduce their energy bills, including:· Winter Fuel Payment - worth up to £300, estimated £ 2.15 billion spent in 2013/14 (specifically for pensioners); · Cold Weather Payments - provide £25 for every week of a cold spell – in the last cold winter (2012/13) 5.8 million payments were made, estimated over £140 million spent in 2012/13 (specifically for those on low incomes); · Warm Home Discount: provides assistance to around 2 million low income and vulnerable households with their energy costs each year. Over 1.4 million of the poorest pensioners received £140 off their electricity bill last winter (14/15), over 1.3 million of them automatically. · Nearly £3m invested over 3 years in the Big Energy Saving Network to help the most vulnerable get the best deal for them and access to available help.

Energy: Competition

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the findings of the report by the Competition and Markets Authority on its provisional finding on its energy market investigation, published on 7 July 2015; and what steps she is taking to ensure that customers are not paying too much for their energy bills.

Andrea Leadsom: We will consider the CMA’s provisional findings carefully and respond shortly.In the meantime this Government continues to focus on keeping bills down through promoting competition, making switching quicker and easier, and providing direct help to the most vulnerable.We have already:· tackled barriers hindering the entry and growth of independent suppliers through the Challenger Business Programme· halved the time it takes to switch supplier;· put QR codes on bills to allow switching through mobile phones· delivered a national switching campaign, resulting in £38 million savings by 130,000 households switching energy supplier; and· provided nearly £3m over three years to the Big Energy Saving Network which has already helped around 220,000 vulnerable consumers with their energy bills.

Hinkley Point Power Stations

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what information she has received from public protection authorities in North Somerset on compliance at Hinckley Point nuclear facilities with the provision of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 requiring the display of public notices warning of areas where pollution is a potential health risk.

Andrea Leadsom: Local authorities have a responsibility to consider appropriate remediation measures, which could include signage if appropriate, where there is evidence of a potential risk to health in the environment. Local authorities in England are advised by Public Health England in relation to health risks associated with radioactive contamination and by the Environment Agency in respect of appropriate remediation measures.Operators of all nuclear facilities in England must comply with environmental permits issued by the Environment Agency. The Environment Agency also conducts ongoing independent monitoring of the level of radioactivity in the environment and publishes results annually. There is no indication from this programme of a potential health risk in relation to the nuclear facilities at Hinkley Point.

Energy: Competition

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the  Competition and Markets Authority's provisional findings on the energy market, published on 6 July 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: We will consider the CMA’s provisional findings carefully and respond shortly.

Renewable Energy

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of progress towards meeting the UK's renewable energy target.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the Hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on 6 June 2015 to Question 4832:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-30/4832/.

Fossil Fuels: Pollution

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will make it her policy to support a global goal to phase out pollution from fossil fuels and replace them with 100 per cent clean, safe energy by 2050.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government fully recognises the need for long term certainty on the low carbon transition as this will give businesses and investors confidence, helping to ensure the most cost effective climate action and the development and deployment of new innovation and technology and help to reduce costs for us all and secure growth and jobs.This is why my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister, along with other G7 Leaders, emphasised at the G7 Summit in June that “deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions are required with a decarbonisation of the global economy over the course of this century”, including “striving for a transformation of the energy sectors by 2050”.For the UK, our policy on this is already clear and certain, through the legal commitment set out in our Climate Change Act – reducing UK emissions by at least 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels. The G7 commitment shows other big economies are also acting alongside us us.

Energy: Meters

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what recent assessment she has made of the accuracy of the discount rate applied by her Department for its evaluation of the total costs and benefits of the smart meters programme.

Andrea Leadsom: The Smart Metering Impact Assessment applies the social discount rate prescribed by HM Treasury’s Green Book, which forms the guidance for central Government in preparing and analysing proposed policies, programmes and projects.

Coal Fired Power Stations

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will take steps to present a plan committing to phasing out coal burning without carbon capture from power stations by 2023; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for South Down on 23 June 2015 to Question 3265:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-18/3265/.

Offshore Industry: Industrial Health and Safety

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, with reference to paragraph 3.3.3 of the Oil and Gas UK health and safety report 2014, what discussions she has had with (a) ministerial colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions, (b) the Health and Safety Executive, (c) the Oil and Gas Authority, (d) trade unions and (e) Oil and Gas UK on the growth of the safety-critical maintenance backlog recorded in that report.

Andrea Leadsom: At an official level, DECC has regular contact with DWP, the Health and Safety Executive, the Oil and Gas Authority and Oil and Gas UK on a range of issues relating to the oil and gas industry, including maintenance of offshore infrastructure.

Energy: Meters

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of the net benefit of the smart meters programme forecast by her Department is accounted for by the assumption that households will (a) reduce their gas and electricity consumption and (b) vary the time of day at which gas and electricity are consumed as a result of using smart meters.

Andrea Leadsom: The energy savings by households and the related carbon emission savings (a) account for approximately 30% of the gross benefits of the smart meter roll-out. Shifting demand to off peak times (b) accounts for approximately 5% of the projected gross benefits of the smart meter roll-out.

Energy: Meters

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what reduction in the consumption of (a) gas and (b) electricity the median household is required to make in order to achieve her Department's forecast of the net benefit of the smart meters programme.

Andrea Leadsom: Our central estimate of the energy savings to households set out in the Smart Metering Impact Assessment is a mean of 2% for gas and 2.8% for electricity (both for customers with credit meters). These energy saving assumptions are at the conservative end of the spectrum, based on international evidence. Our modelling in addition takes into account that other policies with consumption reducing effects have been introduced before smart metering.

Energy: Meters

Mr David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of her Department's forecast reduction in household gas and electricity consumption arising as a result of the smart meters programme is attributable to the use of an in-home display for the provision of consumption data.

Andrea Leadsom: The Smart Metering Impact Assessment does not provide a specific estimate of the energy savings that are attributable to the use of an In-Home Display, given that the energy savings households are expected to make from smart meters will be dependent on a number of factors. These include the effectiveness of consumer engagement approaches carried out by energy suppliers before, during and after installation and more broadly by Smart Energy GB, as well as the In-Home Display itself.Past GB trials and international experience demonstrate that In-Home Displays are instrumental to energy savings. For example, the findings from the Energy Demand Research Project published in 2011 showed that electricity savings with an In-Home Display were generally 2-4% higher than with a smart meter only.

Cabinet Office

Ministerial Policy Advisers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, who the special advisers to Government departments are; and what the salaries of those advisers are.

Matthew Hancock: The Government publishes an annual statement to Parliament setting out the numbers, names and paybands of special advisers, the appointing Minister and the overall paybill.The 2015 list, reflecting appointments made after the election, will be published in due course.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Peter Kyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking with the Troubled Families Programme to ensure that young people in that Programme are able to access the National Citizen Service.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will publish the data it holds on the background of young people participating in the National Citizen Service.

Mr Rob Wilson: Cabinet Office is committed to ensuring that all young people, regardless of background, are able to participate in NCS. My officials are working with the Troubled Families team to identify ways of ensuring that those young people they work with can benefit from the programme.Data on the background of young people participating in NCS will be placed in the Commons Library shortly.

Legislative Drafting

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in respect of which bills presented to Parliament in the current Session, other than by a Minister of the Crown, the Office of Parliamentary Counsel has allocated resources to assist the hon. Member in charge.

Mr Oliver Letwin: The Government is carefully considering the Bills presented by Backbench Members in this session. Where the Government supports Private Members' Bills the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel may be instructed to assist by refining the drafting of the Bill.

Kids Company: Correspondence

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish his official correspondence with Camila Batmanghelidjh on Kids Company in the last five years.

Mr Oliver Letwin: It is practice not to publish correspondence which includes information that is commercially sensitive and sent in confidence.

Lobbying: Registration

Lucy Powell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has collected in fees for registering consultant lobbyists; how much he estimates his Department will collect in such fees in the first full year the register is in operation; what the running costs of the register have been to date; and what estimate he has made of the annual running costs of that register.

John Penrose: Details of implementation costs for 2014/15, running costs for 2015/16 and the total income intended to be recovered from registrants in 2015/16 are outlined in the business plan published by the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/413521/ORCL_Business_Plan_2015-16.pdf

Department for Culture Media and Sport

World War I: Anniversaries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to publicise the ballot for 8,000 free tickets to the ceremony to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in July 2016.

Tracey Crouch: Following the Secretary of State's announcement on 1 July, which launched the ballot website to strong press interest, we are looking at a number of further opportunities to raise awareness of the ballot. Leaflets were handed to all those attending the 1 July event this year and are available at the Thiepval Visitor Centre. Our partner organisations, The Royal British Legion and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, are also promoting the information on their websites and through related social media channels.  Communications activity will focus on key points in the period from now until the ballot closes on 18 November. It will involve press announcements and planned coverage in both media and broadcast outlets to highlight the relevance of the battle of the Somme, the upcoming centenary and the ballot arrangements. The communications campaign will be supported by a strong social media presence, under #Somme100, to promote engagement beyond traditional audiences and direct users to the dedicated event website. We will also work closely with our key stakeholders to amplify messaging around the ballot and look to use celebrity endorsement.

Department of Health

Action on Smoking and Health: Finance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 2761, what assessment he has made of whether organisations or groups other than Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) are capable to deliver the services for which ASH has applied for grant funding.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 2761 on smoking and health: finance, whether the award of such a grant is made on a competitive and transparent basis.

Jane Ellison: Grants made under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968 can be made in a number of ways. The Voluntary Sector Investment Fund grant schemes such as the Strategic Partner Programme; Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development Fund; and Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund involve a competitive process. Some non-competed grants are also made by the Department using Section 64 powers. Any voluntary sector organisations can submit a proposal for such a grant and all applications are assessed against the same criteria.   The assessment includes a requirement for officials to consider whether there are other suppliers who can provide the requirements before awarding a grant to an organisation making an ad-hoc request. A formal assessment of the application for grant funding from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) for the 2015-16 financial year has not yet been completed. Last year, the assessment of the application for 2014-15 funding concluded that ASH was the only charity in this area with the appropriate national reach and focus, and appropriate standing in the international arena.

Action on Smoking and Health: Finance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 2761 on smoking and health: finance, what the job title is of the official who will decide whether such a grant is awarded; and what criteria that official will apply in reaching that decision.

Jane Ellison: Grants to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) have been awarded under Section 64 of the Health Services and Public Health Act 1968. All grants awarded under this legislative power must be approved by both HM Treasury and either the Secretary of State for Health or another Health Minister. Recommendations to Ministers for funding are only made once an assessment of the proposal has been made by officials against standard business case criteria which include a Strategic Case, Economic Case, Financial Case, Commercial Case and Project Governance.

Department of Health: Lobbying

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 2691, whether his Department has received representations on the use of grant funding provided to outside groups being used for the lobbying of his Department.

Jane Ellison: We have reviewed the Department’s records and have identified that the Department received a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request in May 2014 related to a grant made to the Action on Smoking and Health which was followed up by a further FOI request in June 2014.

Autism: Health Services

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the number of patients with autism spectrum disorder who have received NHS treatment in each of the last five years.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received from (a) specialist bodies and (b) charities on treatment options for autism spectrum disorder on the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of NHS treatment options for patients with autism spectrum disorder; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of the process for booking specialist autism spectrum disorder care appointments; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the average waiting time for autism spectrum disorder treatment in the NHS in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: We do not hold this information centrally.   Revised statutory guidance on autism for local authorities and the National Health Service was issued on 26 March this year and continued to include the importance of having access locally to a diagnostic pathway and improving the quality of services for adults with autism.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care. NICE has published three clinical guidelines on autism and a quality standard. It has also produced an implementation pack on developing multi-agency local autism teams and support for commissioning autism services, which outlines key actions that commissioners should take. Although arrangements for referrals for autism diagnosis are a matter for local determination, NHS England has a role in assuring the process is adopted. Representations on clinical approaches concerning autism are normally forwarded by the Department to NHS organisations or other relevant authorities.   Public Health England oversees an annual autism self-assessment exercise amongst local authority areas and their partners. In 2013/14, it reported that 4,677 people had received a diagnosis of an autistic spectrum condition in the year to the end of March 2014, based on data submitted from 102 of a possible 152 local authority areas. In the same exercise, the average waiting time between referral and assessment as reported by 110 local authority areas was 29.6 weeks. This was the first time these questions had been asked in this form. The results of the 2014/15 exercise will be published in the autumn.

Everolimus

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with NHS England and NICE on the timescale for approving a commissioning policy for Everolimus.

George Freeman: NHS England is currently developing a policy for the provision of everolimus for tuberous sclerosis for complex related renal angiomyolipoma and also one for the provision of everolimus for subependymal giant cell astrocytoma. These two policies will both be considered as in-year items for the specialised services work programme for 2015/16. This was communicated in a Specialised Services Circular on 2 July 2015, a copy of which is attached.   There are no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to assess everolimus for use in treating tuberous sclerosis complex through either its technology appraisal or highly specialised technology work programmes.   Although NHS England currently does not commission everolimus routinely, it continues to consider funding this treatment in exceptional and/or critically urgent clinical circumstances. 



Specialised Services Circular NHS England JUL 2015
(PDF Document, 305.04 KB)

Morquio Syndrome: Drugs

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will approve the use of Vimzin as an enzyme replacement therapy for Morquio on an interim basis until NICE makes a final decision in October 2015.

George Freeman: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State does not make decisions on the approval of drugs for treatment on the National Health Service.   NHS England has recently made the decision to await the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) final guidance for the use of Vimizim for Morquio. This decision has been made by clinicians, and we await the outcome of the NICE guidance expected in October 2015.

Herbal Medicine: Regulation

David Tredinnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the Government response to the report by Professor David Walker on the Regulation of Herbal Medicines and Practitioners, published 26 March 2015.

Ben Gummer: The Government’s response to the report by Professor David Walker on the Regulation of Herbal Medicines and Practitioners will be published by the end of December 2015.

NHS England: Correspondence

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects Simon Stevens to reply to the letter of 30 June 2015 from Jayne Spink of the Tuberous Sclerosis Association.

George Freeman: The office of the Chief Executive at NHS England has confirmed that the letter from Jayne Spink dated 30 June 2015 has been received and noted. It is not routine practice for him to respond to correspondence to which he has been copied.

Scleroderma: Health Education

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of scleroderma to health professionals and the wider public.

George Freeman: There are between 5,000 and 8,000 rare diseases. Each one affects less than 0.1% of the United Kingdom’s population, but together affect the lives of 3 million people making considerable demands on the resources and capacity of the National Health Service and other care services.   In 2013, the Department published the UK Strategy for Rare Diseases. This is a high-level framework committed to raising awareness about all rare diseases and sets out a strategic vision for improving the lives of all those affected with rare disease. A copy of the Strategy is attached.   The Department also recently collaborated with Health Education England and others to produce two videos about rare diseases, one focusing on healthcare professionals, particularly general practitioners, as the first point of NHS contact, the other providing information for patients and parents about rare diseases. These videos can be viewed on Health Education England’s website at:   http://www.genomicseducation.hee.nhs.uk/rare-disease-and-the-potential-of-genomics/ 



The UK Strategy for Rare Diseases 2013
(PDF Document, 1.88 MB)

Department of Health: Cost Effectiveness

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the HM Treasury press release, Chancellor announces £4.5 billion of measures to bring down debt, published 4 June 2015, what consultation arrangements he plans to make for the non-NHS budget reductions planned for his Department in 2015-16; and whether he plans to consult the public on those reductions.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to HM Treasury press release, Chancellor announces £4.5 billion of measures to being down debt, published on 4 June 2015, by when he expects local authorities to have identified their share of the non-NHS budget reductions announced in that notice; and whether he plans to exempt or protect any areas of public health expenditure from those reductions.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the HM Treasury press release, Chancellor announces £4.5 billion of measures to bring down debt, published 4 June 2015, whether he plans for the non-NHS budget reductions announced in that press release to be evenly distributed between local authorities; and when he plans to announce how those reductions will be distributed.

Jane Ellison: The Department will shortly publish a consultation on how best to implement these reductions in ways that minimise any impact on services.

Psychiatry: Research

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 3297, what funds his Department has provided for forensic psychiatric research (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms and (c) as a proportion of the total research and development budget in each year since 2002.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 3297, what funds his Department has provided for mental health and psychiatric research relating to learning disabilitiues (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms and (c) as a proportion of the total research and development budget in each year since 2002.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 3297, what funds his Department has provided for research into veterans' mental health (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms and (c) as a proportion of the total research and development budget in each year since 2002.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2015 to Question 3297, what funds his Department has provided for psychotherapy research (a) in cash terms, (b) in real terms and (c) as a proportion of the total research and development budget in each year since 2002.

George Freeman: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 July 2015 to Questions 5531, 5532, 5533 and 5534.

Morquio Syndrome: Drugs

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of NHS England's announcement on 2 July 2015 on a final funding decision on Vimizim with the EU directive on transparency of measures regulating the prices of medicinal products for human use.

George Freeman: The Department is responsible for determining the price of medicinal products. The Department’s procedures for determining price comply with the requirements of the EU Directive on the transparency of measures regulating the prices of medicinal products. The Biomarin product Vimizim (elosulfase alfa) is currently being evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence as part of its Highly Specialised Technologies programme. In the meantime, NHS England has defined a draft commissioning policy for elosulfase alpha for Mucopolysaccharidosis IV Type A on the basis of the clinical evidence of its effectiveness. No final funding decision has been made.

General Practitioners: Coventry

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GP practices in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry have received funding from the GP Access Fund.

Alistair Burt: NHS England advises that, of the 37 schemes selected for the second wave of Access Fund pilot schemes, one of these is based in Coventry. This scheme involves 64 general practitioner practices in the local area.   In October 2013, the Prime Minister announced a new £50 million Access Fund to help improve access to general practice and stimulate innovative ways of providing primary care services. The first wave of 20 pilots was announced in April 2014.   Further funding of £100 million was announced by the Prime Minister on 30 September 2014 for a second wave of schemes and an additional £25 million has since been added from the £1 billion Infrastructure Fund.

Mental Health Services

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will place in the Library a list of all mental health services the NHS offers.

Alistair Burt: The NHS Choices website contains lists of all mental health services and can be accessed at:   http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/MentalHealth/Pages/Mentalhealthhome.aspx   Local clinical commissioning groups commission local mental health services appropriate to the local health needs of their population.

Female Genital Mutilation

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients treated in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England have been suspected to have been subjected to FGM in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: Data is not collected in all of the formats requested. The Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Prevalence Dataset (ISB 1610) began in 2014, and therefore the data provided in the table below is for the period September 2014 to March 2015 inclusive. Newly identified1Total number of care contacts2Coventry49623West Midlands6393,041England3,96317,875 Notes:   Collection of the FGM Enhanced Dataset (SCCI2026), including individual patient level data, began in April 2015. Data is being collected by acute trusts, mental health trusts and from general practitioner practices. The first publication of this data will be in September 2015. 1Patients first identified during the reporting period as having undergone FGM. This will include those diagnosed/identified within the provider within the month.2Total number of care contacts of any type recorded for any patient within the reporting period (NUMBER OF PATIENTS WITH FGM FIRST IDENTIFIED IN REPORTING PERIOD and NUMBER OF PATIENTS WITH FGM ACTIVE CASELOAD)  Coventry data is supplied for the following trust: - University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust   West Midlands data is supplied for the following trusts: - Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - Birmingham Women's NHS Foundation Trust - George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust - Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust - Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust - South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust - The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust - The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust - University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust - University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust - Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust - Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust - Wye Valley NHS Trust   Data is supplied for the number of patients newly identified as having undergone FGM, and for the number of care contacts. An individual seen by more than one trust will be counted more than once, so there is possibility for duplicate counting.

NHS Foundation Trusts: Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which foundation hospital trusts in England are required by their trust deeds to provide accident and emergency services.

Jane Ellison: It is for local commissioners, rather than National Health Service trusts of foundation trusts, to determine what services are required locally.   Foundation trusts are required via contracts with local commissioners to provide services, including accident and emergency services. This would not be set out in trust deeds.

Speech and Language Disorders: Health Services

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance he has issued to local authorities on including the speech, language and communication needs of their local population in their joint strategic needs assessment.

Alistair Burt: In March 2013, the Department published statutory guidance to support health and wellbeing boards in undertaking Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNA) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JHWS).   The guidance focuses on the methodology for producing comprehensive and high quality assessments and strategies, and emphasises the importance of understanding and addressing the needs of the whole local population at all stages in the lifecourse, with a particular focus on vulnerable sub-groups and those likely to experience health inequalities.   The guidance does not specifically discuss the inclusion of speech, language and communication needs of the local population in the JSNA. It would not be appropriate for the Department to highlight any particular care group or area of need over another as this would risk undermining the purpose of JSNAs and JHWSs being objective, comprehensive and locally-owned.   A copy of the guidance is attached. 



Statutory Guidance on JSNAs & JHWSs March 2013
(PDF Document, 178.65 KB)

Accident and Emergency Departments: Working Hours

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which hospitals in England provide consultant cover 24 hours per day, seven days per week, for accidents and emergencies.

Jane Ellison: This information is not held centrally.

Royal Bournemouth Hospital: Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate his Department has made of the additional annual cost to the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Trust of providing consultant cover at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital accident and emergency department 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

Jane Ellison: This information is not collected centrally.   We have written to Jane Stichbury, Chair of The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust informing her of my hon. Friend’s enquiry. She will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Hospitals: Parking

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of hospital car parking charges on (a) pensioners, (b) carers, (c) people with long-term conditions and (d) people on low incomes; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Department has not made any national assessment of the effect of hospital car parking charges on specific groups. Decisions on hospital car parking, including charging, are taken locally by National Health Service foundation trusts and NHS trusts.   On 23 August, 2014, the Department published the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles, which set out a nationally consistent approach for hospitals to take to car parking. This includes guidance on the provision of concessionary parking. The principles are available at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles   To help NHS organisations deliver the above principles the Department published NHS Car Parking Management: Environment and Sustainability (HTM 07-03) on 25 March 2015. This guidance is available at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-car-parking-management-htm-07-03   Both documents make it clear that NHS organisations should work with patients, staff, visitors, local authorities and public transport providers when planning their parking provision.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Weather

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what additional funding has been allocated to clinical commissioning groups to help with pressures in accident and emergency departments in winter 2015-16; and when such funding was first announced.

Jane Ellison: We are advised by NHS England that for 2015/16, around £380 million has been allocated to all clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to support resilience initiatives. NHS England published details of the CCG allocations for 2015/16 on 19 December 2014.

Dementia: Health Services

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether he plans to publish a new national dementia strategy in the current Parliament.

Jane Ellison: On 21 February 2015, the Prime Minister launched his new Challenge on Dementia 2020, which builds on the achievements of the Prime Minister’s challenge on dementia 2012-2015. It sets out the vision for dementia care, support, awareness and research to be transformed by 2020, and we are committed to delivering this.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of cancer patients in (a) England and (b) Copeland constituency waited six weeks or more for a diagnostic test in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. Information is published on the percentage of patients waiting six weeks or more for one of 15 diagnostic tests at the end of each month. Although some of these tests are used to diagnose cancer, they also have wider clinical uses. Other diagnostic tests are also used to diagnose cancers, for which waiting times are not collected. The information is published by National Health Service commissioning area (primary care trusts to March 2012 and clinical commissioning groups from April 2013) and not by parliamentary constituency.   The information in the following table shows the percentage of patients waiting more than six weeks on the last day of the month for magnetic resonance imaging, computerised tomography, non-obstetric ultrasound, colonoscopy, flexi-sigmoidoscopy, cystoscopy or gastroscopy. These are tests that are commonly used to diagnose cancer, although not all of the patients will be cancer patients.   Percentage of patients waiting more than six weeks on the last day of the month for tests commonly used to diagnose cancer, January 2006 to May 2015 MonthEnglandCumbria 2January 2006147.3%37.1%February 200639.8%27.0%March 200639.1%25.8%April 200641.3%28.6%May 200638.5%29.9%June 200636.2%28.7%July 200636.2%27.2%August 200637.7%30.4%September 200635.2%32.5%October 200632.4%31.1%November 200631.0%35.1%December 200634.6%42.1%January 200734.1%40.2%February 200726.6%30.8%March 200723.3%32.7%April 200724.8%31.7%May 200721.5%32.7%June 200719.7%25.6%July 200718.1%22.5%August 200717.9%17.3%September 200714.6%14.0%October 200712.5%10.3%November 200710.5%8.2%December 200711.8%13.4%January 200810.3%15.6%February 20085.5%9.1%March 200832.3%0.1%April 20082.0%0.1%May 20082.0%0.1%June 20081.7%0.1%July 20081.4%0.0%August 20081.5%0.0%September 20080.9%0.0%October 20080.8%0.0%November 20080.7%0.0%December 20080.9%0.0%January 20091.0%0.1%February 20090.6%0.0%March 20090.4%0.0%April 20090.6%0.1%May 20090.5%0.0%June 20090.6%0.1%July 20090.7%0.0%August 20090.8%0.0%September 20090.6%0.1%October 20090.4%0.0%November 20090.6%0.2%December 20091.0%0.0%January 20101.4%0.2%February 20100.6%0.1%March 20100.6%0.1%April 20100.6%0.1%May 20100.4%0.1%June 20100.6%0.2%July 20100.6%0.2%August 20101.0%0.2%September 20100.9%0.1%October 20100.8%0.2%November 20100.8%0.2%December 20101.6%0.1%January 20111.9%0.1%February 20111.2%0.1%March 20111.5%0.1%April 20112.2%0.1%May 20112.4%0.1%June 20111.8%0.1%July 20111.6%0.1%August 20111.8%0.2%September 20111.6%0.1%October 20111.1%0.3%November 20111.0%0.1%December 20111.2%0.1%January 20121.3%0.1%February 20120.7%0.1%March 20120.6%0.3%April 20120.9%0.4%May 20120.8%0.0%June 20121.3%0.0%July 20120.9%0.1%August 20121.0%0.3%September 20120.8%0.5%October 20120.6%0.8%November 20120.6%1.1%December 20121.0%1.7%January 20131.2%2.1%February 20130.8%0.6%March 20131.0%0.4%April 20131.1%0.5%May 20130.9%0.2%June 20130.7%0.1%July 20130.7%0.3%August 20131.0%0.6%September 20130.8%0.6%October 20130.6%0.8%November 20130.7%0.7%December 20131.2%1.0%January 20141.8%4.4%February 20141.3%3.8%March 20141.5%4.3%April 20142.1%6.6%May 20142.2%9.9%June 20141.9%10.1%July 20141.6%12.4%August 20141.8%12.8%September 20141.3%8.0%October 20141.1%5.3%November 20141.0%2.5%December 20141.8%5.4%January 20152.2%6.6%February 20151.4%2.6%March 20151.5%2.3%April 20152.0%4.2%May 20151.8%2.8% Source: diagnostic waiting times and activity, NHS England   Notes: 1. Information is available from January 2006. 2. Cumbria has been defined as West Cumbria Primary Care Trust from January 2006 to September 2006, Cumbria Teaching Primary Care Trust from October 2006 to March 2013, and NHS Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group from April 2013. 3. In March 2008, a milestone towards achieving 18 week referral to treatment waiting times by December 2008 was introduced. This was that the percentage of patients waiting six weeks or more for a diagnostic test at the end of each month should be less than 1% of the total number of patients waiting at the end of the month. This became a formal standard in April 2012.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure earlier diagnoses for cancer patients in (a) England and (b) Copeland constituency.

Jane Ellison: Improving cancer outcomes is a major priority for this Government, as it was under the last Government when we set an ambition to save 5,000 extra lives a year by 2014-15. We are now on track to save a projected 12,000 extra lives a year than in 2010-11 - more than double our ambition.   To help diagnose cancer earlier, we have invested over £22 million in Be Clear on Cancer campaigns between 2010-11 and 2014-15 to raise awareness of specific cancer symptoms and encourage people with these symptoms to visit their doctor without delay. The first national lung cancer campaign led to 700 extra diagnoses and 300 more surgeries during the time of the campaign. Public Health England, working with the Department, NHS England and other partners, will continue to keep these campaigns under review.   We also committed over £170 million, over the last Spending Review period to improve and expand screening for asymptomatic cancer and we are on track to have all bowel scope screening centres open by December 2016.   As part of the Taskforce announcement earlier this year, NHS England also launched a major early diagnosis programme, (Accelerate, Co-ordinate, Evaluate) working jointly with Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support to test new approaches to identifying cancer quickly.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an updated guideline “Suspected cancer: recognition and referral” on 23 June 2015, to ensure that it reflects latest evidence and can continue to support general practitioners (GPs) to identify patients with symptoms of suspected cancer, and urgently refer them as appropriate.   The National Health Service in Cumbria has advised that early diagnosis of cancer is a key priority, and that teams are working to deliver improvements in this area, for example through the use of cancer lead GPs to promote early diagnosis, best practice use of the two week wait referral pathway for patients with suspected cancer symptoms and by encouraging uptake of screening. The clinical commissioning group is carrying out a significant event audit of diagnosis to help improve GPs’ knowledge and practice, and to help measure improvements year on year.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of cancer patients in (a) England and (b) Copeland constituency received their diagnosis through emergency routes in each of the last 10 years.

Jane Ellison: Every case of cancer registered in England which was diagnosed in 2006-2010 is categorised into one of eight 'Routes to Diagnosis'.   The methodology is described in detail in the British Journal of Cancer article Routes to Diagnosis for cancer - Determining the patient journey using multiple routine datasets.   Emergency presentations are defined as "an emergency route via A&E, emergency GP referral, emergency transfer, emergency admission or attendance." More detail can be found in the technical document above available at: http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v107/n8/full/bjc2012408a.html   Data on all malignant neoplasms (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer) was taken from the "Routes to diagnosis 2006-2010 workbook (a)"- this can be found on the website above.   Data are not available by constituency and are only available for the period 2006 to 2010.   Table 1: Percentage of diagnoses by emergency presentation route, England, persons, by single years 2006 to 2010   YearNumber of cancer diagnosisNumber of emergency presentationsProportion of emergency presentations (out of all cancer diagnosis) ab(b/a)x1002006247,61560,22524%2007249,15357,98923%2008256,21758,69923%2009261,85958,89522%2010257,74055,58322%   Table 2 presents data of Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) by specific cancer site for the period 2006-2010. This CCG includes the population of Copeland constituency.   Table 2: Percentage of diagnoses by emergency presentation route, specific cancer sites, persons, Cumbria CCG 2006-2010 Cumbria CCG, 2006-2010Cancer siteNumber of cancer diagnosis (all Routes)Proportion of emergency presentationsBreast2,1554%Colorectal2,04322%Lung1,93336%Prostate1,7038%